K-Oile^' 


<Z2e 


Bancroft 
The  £arly  American  Chroniclers 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE 


EAELY  AMERICAN 


OHEONICLEES. 


BT 

HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT. 


SAN  FRANCISCO : 
A.  L.  BANCROFT  &  COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS. 

1883. 


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F 


/ii? 


THE     EARLY    AMERICAN 


CHRONICLERS. 


Facts  can  be  accurately  known  to  us  only  by  the  most  rigid  observation 
and  sustained  and  scrutinizing  scepticism.  jp       , 


In  the  North  American  Review  for  April  1876 
appeared  an  article  by  Lewis  H.  Morgan  entitled 
"Montezuma's  Dinner,"  to  which  some  prominence 
has  been  given,  notably  and  of  late  by  Thomas  Went- 
worth  Higginson  in  Harper's  Magazine  for  August 
1882,  in  an  article  entitled  "The  First  Americans." 
As  Mr  Morofan  takes  for  his  text  the  second  vol- 
ume  of  my  Native  Races  of  the  Pacijic  States,  which 
treats  of  the  aboriginal  civilization  of  the  Mexican  and 
Central  American  table-lands,  and  as  his  remarkable 
hypotheses,  which  seem  to  find  intelligent  support, 
affect  not  alone  the  quality  of  American  aboriginal 
culture,  but  the  foundations  of  early  American  his- 
tory, and  indeed  of  all  historic  evidence,  I  deem  it 
my  duty  to  state  briefly  and  plainly  my  views  upon 
the  subject. 

I  confess  to  have  been  a  little  startled  by  the  state- 
ment of  Colonel  Higginson,  that  the  speculations  of 
Mr  Morgan  were  so  generally  accepted  by  scholars. 


634989 


2  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHROXICLERS. 

Nevertheless  I  was  pleased  to  learn  that  within  a  few 
years  there  seemed  to  have  come  an  answer  to  the 
question,  who  and  whence  were  the  aboriginal  Amer- 
icans; that  the  literary  and  monumental  remains  of 
the  Aztecs,  Mayas,  and  ^lound-builders  might  now 
be  translated  by  skilful  students;  that  a  clew  to  the 
labyrinths  of  race  and  origin  had  been  found — found 
thirty  years  ago,  though  successfully  applied  for  only 
eight  or  ten  years;  and  when  further  assured  that 
conjecture  in  this  direction  has  begun  for  science 
a  new  era,  and  that  although  there  may  be  some 
mysteries  relating  to  humanity  not  yet  solved,  there 
remains  little  affecting  American  archaeology  which 
the  new  theory  will  not  make  plain — I  was  pleased, 
because  these  are  things  I  have  long  wished  to  know. 
But  when  informed  that  early  American  annals  are 
by  the  light  of  this  new  theory  transformed,  and  to  a 
great  extent  annulled,  the  eyes  of  the  first  comers 
having  deceived  them ;  that  the  aboriginal  culture,  its 
arts,  literature,  sciences,  polities,  and  religions  being 
not  these  but  other  things,  as  is  clearly  shown  by 
the  *  new  interpretation,'  and  that  the  tales  of  the 
conquerors  must  accordingly  be  written  anew,  written 
and  read  by  this  new  transforming  light;  that  there 
never  was  an  Aztec  or  a  Maya  empire,  but  only  wild 
tribes  leagued  like  the  northern  savages;  that  Yucatan 
never  had  great  cities,  nor  Montezuma  a  palace,  but 
that  as  an  ordinary  Indian  chief  this  personage  had 
lived  in  the  communal  dwelling  of  his  tribe;  that  we 
can  see  America  as  Cort{5s  saw  it,  not  in  the  words  of 
Cortds  and  his  companions,  or  in  the  monumental 
remains  of  the  south,  but  in  the  reflection  of  New 
^Mexican  villages,  and  through  the  mental  vagaries 
of  one  man  aftor  the  annihilation  of  facts  presented 
by  a  hundred  men,  I  was  surprised  that  such  conceits 
should  ever  assume  tanj'ible  form  and  be  received  as 
truth  by  any  considerable  number  of  scholars.  I  was 
not  suqiriscd,  however,  U)  see  my  much  admired  friend 
fmnkly  admit,  before  concluding  his  essay,  that  there 


THE  MORGAN  THEORY.  3 

were  lions  in  the  path  in  the  form  of  facts,  that  it  was 
easier  to  beHeve  the  Spanish  conquerors  than  to  accept 
some  of  Mr  Morgan's  positions,  and  that,  after  all, 
the  matter  of  origin  must  still  end  in  an  interrogation 
mark. 

If  I  rightly  comprehend  the  Morgan  hypothesis,  it 
is  that,  by  systems  of  kinship  conspicuous  in  partic- 
ular among  the  Iroquois  and  Ojibways,  and  present  in 
fainter  proportions  everywhere,  the  races  of  the  earth 
may  be  divided  into  savage  and  civilized,  in  some  such 
way  as  hitherto  they  have  been  classified  by  physical, 
linguistic,  and  social  characteristics.  In  one  category 
w^ould  thus  be  placed  the  Aryan  and  Semitic  races; 
in  the  other  the  Turanian,  Malayan,  and  American. 
Convinced  that  the  American  nations  all  belong  to 
one  family,  Mr  Morgan  assumes  that  their  various 
institutions  must  be  practically  identical,  and  that  the 
social  customs  of  extinct  tribes  may  best  be  learned, 
not  from  the  statements  of  men  who  wrote  from 
actual  observation,  but  from  the  study  of  existing 
tribes.  Himself  familiar  with  the  Iroquois,  and  to 
some  extent  with  other  northern  tribes,  he  applies 
the  Iroquois  tribal  organization  of  gentes,  phratries, 
tribes,  and  confederations  to  the  nations  of  Mexico  and 
Central  and  South  America,  thus  making  all  savages, 
and  all  statements  to  the  contrary  falsehoods.  Among 
other  tests  of  civilization  are  those  of  the  marriao^e 
of  single  pairs  and  inheritance,  a  plurality  of  wives  or 
husbands,  and  community  of  property  belonging  of 
course  to  savagism.  By  this  system  unity  of  race  is 
established,  and  the  Americans  are  referred  for  their 
origin  to  Asia. 

With  Mr  Morgan's  theory,  as  such,  I  have  nothing 
to  do.  Not  dealinof  in  theories  of  race  and  oriojin 
myself,  further  than  sometimes  to  catalogue  them  and 
wonder  which  of  them  all  is  most  absurd;  not  being 
specially  concerned  whether  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Mexican  and  Central  American  table-lands  are  called 
savage  or  civilized,  especially  by  those  whose  concept- 


4  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

tion  of  the  meaning  of  these  words  is  quite  different 
from  my  own,  I  paid  little  attention  to  Mr  Morgan's 
article,  not  even  once  carefully  reading  it  until  my 
attention  was  called  to  it  by  Colonel  Higginson.  But 
concerning  the  effect  of  such  teachings  on  popular 
estimates  of  historical  evidence,  particularly  as  touch- 
ing the  early  American  chroniclers,  I  am  deeply  inter- 
ested. 

If  I  am  correctly  informed,  Mr  Morgan  obtained 
but  little  information  from  Mexico  and  Central  Amer- 
ica supporting  his  theory;  but  as  it  must  be  common 
and  universal  in  order  to  stand  at  all,  it  was  necessary 
his  ipse  dixit  should  be  employed  to  extend  his  doc- 
trines over  the  southern  plateaux;  so  with  all  his 
strength  he  said  it  must  be  so,  and  was  so,  all  eyes 
and  brains  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  All  that 
was  seen  and  said  at  the  time  of  the  conquest,  and 
all  that  has  since  been  seen  or  said  conflicting:  with 
this  fancy,  is  illusion.  Now  I  venture  to  affirm,  with 
all  respect,  that  no  adequate  proof  exists  in  support  of 
his  suppositions  concerning  Mexico;  that  is,  no  rea- 
sonable, tangible  evidence,  such  as  would  be  accepted 
by  unbiassed  common-sense.  There  are  analogies, 
some  of  them  remarkable.  Nature  is  everywhere 
one;  the  nations  of  the  earth,  of  whatever  origin,  are 
formed  on  one  model.  But  for  every  analogy  these 
theorists  have  found,  their  predecessors  have  found  a 
score  of  analogies  in  support  of  some  other  theory. 
Arguing  from  analogy  to  prove  origin  or  race  is  not 
sound  reasoning. 

In  looking  over  Mr  Morgan's  writings,  it  is  to  be 
noticed  that  traces  of  his  tests  become  more  and  more 
vague  as  the  southern  and  more  advanced  nations 
are  approached.  His  attempt  to  locate  the  ancient 
Cibola  shows  no  small  lack  of  skill  in  the  use  of  evi- 
dence. Likewise,  though  more  dogmatical  in  some 
respects,  in  his  later  works  he  apparently  relinquishes 
in  some  degree  the  positions  which  at  first  were  main- 
tained with  such  arbitrary  obstinacy,  and  spends  some 


EADICAL  DIFFERENCES.  5 

time  in  qualifying  former  errors;  but  it  seems  that 
disciples,  more  wild  than  their  master,  have  arisen, 
who  by  the  blind  pursuit  of  their  ignis  fatuus  are 
rushing  headlong  into  a  gulf  of  absurdity.  It  seems 
a  long  leap  indeed,  but  one  made  by  them  with  ap- . 
parent  ease,  from  a  theory  resting  on  a  trace  of  cer- 
tain organizations  in  the  north,  and  which  may  by 
much  research  be  made  to  assume  some  weight,  to  an 
arbitrary  conclusion  that  the  Mayas  were  identical  in 
their  institutions  with  the  Pueblo  Indians.  Grant  the 
fundamental  doctrine,  and  there  is  yet  a  wide  distance 
between  Zufii  and  Uxmal.  It  requires  a  vivid  im- 
agination to  see  only  joint-tenement  structures  in  the 
remains  at  Palenque.  But  admitting  it,  the  radical 
difference  in  plan,  architecture,  and  sculptured  and 
stucco  decorations,  to  employ  his  own  line  of  argument, 
suggests  a  corresponding  development  and  improve- 
ment in  other  institutions  and  arts  which  would  in- 
troduce some  troublesome  variations  in  the  assumed 
identity  with  the  Pueblos  and  Iroquois,  even  if  all 
started  together.  The  Maya  hieroglyphs,  and  even 
certain  of  the  Aztec,  form  also  an  obstacle  by  no  means 
so  easily  removed.  True,  not  being  deciphered,  their 
actual  grade  cannot  be  positively  proved ;  yet  the  com- 
mon picture-writing  contains  enough  of  the  phonetic 
element  to  place  the  better  class  high  above  the  line 
fixed  by  the  new  transforming  light  as  the  mark  of 
civilization.  Even  by  this  bright  illumination  it  seems 
scarcely  possible  to  reconcile  the  testimony  of  exist- 
ing relics,  and  of  Spanish  witnesses  who  came  into 
contact  with  the  Maya  and  Nahua  nations,  with  the 
narrow  conclusions  of  supporters  of  the  all -directing 
consanguinity.  In  the  earlier  life  of  the  hypothesis 
the  change  to  what  is  called  descriptive  consanguinity 
and  the  inheritance  of  property  were  made  tests  of 
civilization;  but  these  tests  were  abandoned  when  it 
was  ascertained,  among  other  things,  that  the  Aztecs 
did  inherit  personal  property,  and  to  a  certain  extent 
landed  estate. 


6  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

If  this  were  the  only  theory  ever  advanced  to  prove 
unprovable  propositions  regarding  the  Americans,  it 
might  be  more  imposing;  but  as  it  is  only  one  of  fifty, 
each  of  which  has  had  its  day  and  its  supporters, 
much  as  we  would  like  to  know  what  it  professes 
to  be  able  to  tell,  we  cannot  look  forward  with  any 
degree  of  confidence  to  seeing  its  mighty  promises  ful- 
filled. Nor  do  I  regard  such  investigation  as  in  every 
respect  beneficial:  on  the  contrary,  it  appears  to  me 
detrimental  where  facts  are  warped  to  fit  theories,  the 
theory  being  of  less  importance  to  mankind  than  the 
fact.  Unless  care  is  taken,  the  investigations  now 
going  on  may  be  absolutely  damaging  to  science  and 
truth  by  the  evident  bias  of  some  of  the  investigators. 
On  the  other  hand  it  is  true  that  great  discoveries 
have  sprung  from  apparently  puerile  conceits;  and 
facts  are  sure  to  live,  however  sometimes  distorted, 
while  false  doctrines  are  sure  to  die,  however  ably 
presented. 

In  common  with  all  such  suppositions,  the  paths  by 
which  the  advocate  reaches  his  conclusions  are  fuller 
of  instruction  than  the  conclusions  themselves.  There 
is  something  of  instruction  in  the  nine  massive  folios 
left  by  the  poor  demented  Lord  Kingsborough,  who 
greatly  desired  to  prove  the  American  Indians  Jews, 
though  he  was  not  one  whit  nearer  such  proof  at  the 
end  than  at  the  beginning.  The  more  knowledge  the 
learned  Abb<5  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg  brought  to  the 
subject  the  more  confused  he  became,  until  the  latter 
parts  of  his  labors  were  directed  toward  revising  his 
earlier  conjectures.  Such  a  course  appears  not  unusual 
with  theorists — from  the  dogmatic  to  the  argumenta- 
tive, then  back  to  the  dogmatic  again,  forever  explain- 
ing away  mistakes  and  falling  into  new  ones.  The 
eloquent  Robert  Mackenzie  is  still  in  the  first  stage 
of  dogmatism  when  with  a  glance  at  the  map  showing 
the  proximity  of  Asia  and  America  he  would  forever 
settle  the  question  of  origin.  Nor  is  the  straining  of 
modern  scientists  to  prove  Asiatic   intercourse   by 


ABSURDITY  OF  THE  POSITION.  7 

shipwrecked  Japanese  junks  at  all  necessary.  It  is  a 
well  established  fact  that  for  many  centuries  there  has 
been  free  intercourse  between  the  peoples  on  either 
side  of  Bering  Strait,  both  by  means  of  boats  and  by 
crossing  on  the  ice.  It  may  be  as  Mr  Morgan  says, 
though  his  arguments  appear  scarcely  more  convincing 
than  the  arguments  of  those  who  preceded  him,  or  of 
those  who  came  after  him.  Some  of  these  other 
theories  are  .held  to-day;  grant  them  all — what  then? 
Grant  that  the  Americans  are  one  stock  with  the 
people  of  Asia,  or  Scandinavia,  or  Africa,  or  Armenia, 
there  still  remains  to  be  proven  whether  the  Old 
World  peopled  the  New,  or  the  New  the  Old;  where 
stood  the  primordial  cradle  or  cradles  of  the  race; 
where  man  was  first  made,  and  how.  This  involves 
a  knowledge  of  all  things  tangible,  to  know  which 
involves  a  knowledge  of  things  intangible. 

It  seemed  easy  for  Mr  Morgan,  from  his  famil- 
iarity with  certain  of  the  northern  tribes  of  America, 
to  express  the  opinion,  and  bolster  it  by  plausible 
arguments  and  analogies,  that  the  various  aboriginal 
nations  of  America  were  one  people  and  their  insti- 
tutions practically  identical;  but  his  whole  line  of 
argument  in  the  North  American  Review,  so  far  as 
relates  to  the  extension  of  his  system  over  Mexico 
and  Central  America — and  with  that  alone  am  I 
concerned — is  exceedingly  weak,  so  much  so  that,  as 
before  stated,  when  the  article  was  first  published  I 
deemed  it  not  worth  serious  consideration;  so  do 
I  now,  except  that  it  appears  to  be  misleading  certain 
honest  minds. 

He  begins  by  telling  what  the  Spanish  conquerors 
found  in  Mexico ;  not  what  they  reported  themselves 
to  have  seen,  but  what  they  should  have  seen  to 
establish  the  new  interpretation,  which  being  infal- 
lible, the  Spanish  conquerors  did  not  see  what  they 
saw,  but  something  else.  Nor  does  it  afiect  the  facte 
to  call  the  Nahua  culture  savagism  or  civilization, 
Montezuma's  dwelling  a  palace  or  a  tenement-house. 


•  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

himself  emperor  or  cacique,  and  his  subordinate  rulers 
lords  or  chiefs.  It  is  certainly  cool  for  Mr  Morgan, 
who  never  examined  the  monumental  remains  of  the 
Aztecs,  who  had  no  greater  opportunity  than  others 
of  studying  their  social  system,  and  who  in  fact  never 
knew  anything  about  it  except  upon  the  evidence  of 
the  very  witnesses  he  denounces  as  blind  and  false, 
sweepingly  to  assert,  in  order  to  extend  a  preconceived 
theory  over  all  the  nations  of  America,  that  the  con- 
querors were  mistaken,  that  they  could  not  have 
seen  what  they  thought  they  saw.  It  is  the  old  line 
of  reasoning  employed  by  learned  superstition  these 
many  centuries;  if  the  universe,  or  any  part  of  it, 
does  not  accord  with  the  doctrine,  so  much  the  worse 
for  the  universe,  which  must  thereupon  be  recon- 
structed. As  the  good  elder  of  one  of  our  fashionable 
churches  lately  remarked,  "  If  the  bible  affirmed  that 
Jonah  swallowed  the  whale,  I  should  believe  it." 

Without  advancing  adequate  evidence  to  show  the 
existence  of  his  system  among  the  Nahuas,Mr  Morgan 
engages  in  sage  discussions  concerning  it,  transform- 
ing by  the  light  of  the  new  interpretation*  as  many 
of  the  new  facts  into  his  fancies  as  suits  his  purpose. 
In  doing  this,  he  allows  the  chroniclers  to  be  right  in 
whatever  they  say  supporting  his  views;  in  all  such 
statements  as  oppose  his  system  they  were  in  error. 
It  was  indeed  a  transforming  light  that  enabled  this 
man  to  see,  not  being  present,  what  others  could  by 
no  means  perceive  though  they  were  on  the  ground; 
and  he  kmdly  admits  that  the  early  histories  of 
Spanish  America  may  for  the  most  part  be  trusted, 
except  where  his  pet  project  is  touched. 

This,  then,  is  my  opinion  of  the  Morgan  theory: 
There  may  be  grounds  for  certain  of  its  suppositions  in 
certain  directions,  but  there  are  not  sufficient  grounds 
for  its  acceptance  in  regard  to  the  nations  of  the  Mexi- 
can and  Central  American  table-lands,  and  not  the 
slightest  excuse  for  its  authors  in  attempting  to  sweep 
from  the  face  of  the  earth,  by  mere  negation,  all 


WHAT  IS  CIVILIZATION?  9 

persons  and  facts  opposing  their  theory.  It  is  not 
by  such  means  that  reasonable  hypotheses  are  estab- 
lished; blank  negation  never  yet  overturned  sub- 
stantial truth.  Further  than  this,  were  Mr  Morgan's 
system  all  that  he  claims  for  it,  and  did  it  in  reality 
pervade  all  the  nations  of  America,  including  the 
Aztecs  and  the  Mayas,  it  still  proves  nothing  against 
aboriginal  civilization,  or  against  the  veracity  of  the 
Spanish  chroniclers. 

Colonel  Higginson  says  truly  that  whether  a  people 
may  properly  be  called  civilized  is  a  matter  of  defini- 
tions, though  I  must  confess  my  inability  to  follow 
him  when  he  makes  a  radical  difference  of  meaning 
in  the  terms  prehistoric  civilization  and  a  very  skilful 
barbarism.  I  may  be  altogether  at  fault  in  my  con- 
ception of  progressional  phenomena  and  the  meaning 
of  the  terms  savage  and  civilized.  I  am  so,  or  else 
their  popular  signification  and  use  are  incorrect  and 
absurd.  Probably  no  words  so  freely  used  are  so 
little  understood.  The  terms  are  almost  universally 
employed  to  designate  fixed  conditions,  when  by  the 
very  nature  of  things  such  conditions  as  applied  to 
man  are  impossible. 

Mr  Morgan  classified  culture  periods  under  the 
categories  of  savagism,  barbarism,  and  civilization: 
'to  emerge  from  the  first  of  which  there  should  be 
knowledge  of  fire,  fish  subsistence,  and  the  bow  and 
arrow ;  from  the  second,  pottery,  domestication  of  ani- 
mals, agriculture,  and  smelting  of  iron;  and  to  attain 
full  civilization  a  phonetic  alphabet  was  necessary,  or 
use  of  hieroglyphs  upon  stone  as  an  equivalent. 

This  may  have  been  a  convenient  arrangement  for 
his  purpose,  and  I  see  no  reason  why  he,  and  all  who 
choose,  should  not  employ  it.  But  surely  the  same 
right  should  be  accorded  others,  who  perchance  may 
find  another  classification  convenient.  For  instance, 
one  might  wish  to  throw  Mr  Morgan's  three  divisions 
into  the  one  category  of  savagism,  and  spread  his  idea 


10  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

r 

of  civilization  upon  a  higher  plane;  for  surely  our 
present  highest  civilization  is  as  much  superior  to  the 
condition  essential  to  admission  into  his  highest  class 
as  his  highest  class  is  superior  to  his  lowest.  Italian 
song,  French  art,  German  letters,  English  poetry, 
and  American  invention  are  certainly  far  enough  m 
advance  of  the  first  use  of  the  phonetic  alphabet  to 
entitle  such  accomplishments  to  a  new  category. 

r  One  estimates  a  nation's  civilization  by  its  agri- 
culture; another  by  its  industrial  arts;  others  by  the 
quality  of  its  religion,  morality,  literature,  or  politi- 
cal and  social  institutions.  Some  say  that  tillers  of 
the  soil  should  be  preferred  before  herders  of  cattle; 
some  hold  workers  in  iron  and  coal  above  workers 
in  gold  and  feathers;  some  place  pottery  in  advance 
of  sculpture,  the  fine  arts  before  the  industrial;  some 
compare  implements  of  war,  others  phonetic  characters, 
others  knowledge  of  the  movements  of  the  heavenly 
„  bodies;  some  would  take  a  general  average. 

/  But  weighing  a  people's  civilization,  or  lack  of  it, 
by  any  of  these  standards,  yet  other  standards  are 
necessary  by  which  to  measure  progress.  What  is 
meant  by  half  civilized,  or  quarter  civilized,  or  wholly 
civilized?  A  half  civilized  nation  is  a  nation  half  as 
civilized  as  ours.  But  is  ours  civilized,  fully  civilized? 
Is  there  no  higher  culture,  or  refinement,  or  justice, 
or  humanity  in  store  for  man  than  those  formed  on 
present  European  models,  which  sanction  coercion, 
bloody  arbitrament,  international  robbery,  the  exter- 
mination of  primitive  peoples,  and  hide  in  society 
under  more  comely  coverings  all  the  iniquities  of  sav- 
agism  ?  Judging  from  the  past  and  the  present  there 
is  yet  another  six  thousand,  or  sixty  thousand  years 
of  progress  for  man,  and  then  he  may  be  as  much  a 
savage,  compared  with  his  condition  at  the  end  of  the 
next  twelve  thousand  or  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  years'  term,  as  he  was  at  the  beginning 
compared  with  the  present.  Is  there  then  no  such 
tiling  as  civilization?    Assuredly  not,  in  the  signifi- 


THE  UPWARD  LEADING  LINE.  11 

cance  of  a  fixed  condition,  a  goal  attained,  a  complete 
and  perfected  idea  or  state.  Civilization  and  savagism 
are  relative  and  not  absolute  terms.  To  attempt  to 
make  them  absolute  and  apply  them  to  fixed  con- 
ditions is  to  render  them  meaningless,  and  make 
null  the  conditions  indicated.  For  if  civilization  is 
a  fixed  state,  and  not  a  moving  forward,  then  the 
nation  which  ten  thousand  years  ago  was  civilized, 
having  made  some  progress  from  primeval  savagism, 
may  be  to-day  savage,  having  yet  as  much  progress 
to  make  during  the  next  hundred  centuries;  that  is 
to  say,  the  present  people  of  London  and  Paris  may 
perhaps  not  improperly  be  called  savages  by  the 
wonderfully  advanced  citizens  of  Wrangel  Island  ten 
thousand  years  hence.  The  moment  the  man  primeval 
kindles  a  fire,  or  employs  a  crooked  stick  in  catching 
food,  he  has  entered  upon  his  never  ending  progres- 
sional  journey ;  he  is  no  longer  wholly  and  primordially 
savage.  The  terms  being  rightly  employed,  there  are 
no  absolute  savages  or  civilized  peoples  on  the  earth 
to-day;  and  when  there  are  so  many  standards  by 
which  progress  may  properly  be  measured,  is  it  wise 
to  warp  fundamental  facts  in  dogmatically  thrust- 
ing one  people  into  the  category  of  half  civilized,  and 
another  but  slightly  dififerent  into  that  of  one  quarter 
savage?  Perhaps  it  would  do  to  designate  the  ever 
constant  advance  by  prefixes,  first  a  super-civilization, 
then  a  super-super-civilization,  and  so  on  until,  between 
the  beginning  and  end,  instead  of  a  poor  single  semi,  we 
might  have  a  hundred  fixed  stages,  not  one  of  which 
by  any  possibility  could  be  so  defined  in  words  as  com- 
pletely to  fit  any  one  of  the  millions  of  human  con- 
ditions. At  intervals  along  the  early  part  of  the 
Upward  leading  line  are  arbitrarily  placed  marks,  and 
those  who  for  the  moment  happen  to  occupy  the  spaces 
are  given  designations  which  are  supposed  to  adhere  to 
them  and  all  who  come  after  them  throughout  all  time, 
wdien  howsoever  definite  an  idea  we  may  have  of  that 
end  of  the  line  which  began  with  man,  of  the  other, 


12  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

which  will  never  cease  spinning  until  the  last  human 
being  has  left  the  planet,  we  can  have  no  conception. 
For  aught  we  know  it  may  not  stop  short  of  omnis- 
cience. 

Take  any  one  of  Mr  Morgan's  tests  of  civilization 
and  see  how  absurd  it  is.  Who  gave  this  man  the 
right  to  say  that  workers  in  iron  should  be  preferred 
before  workers  in  wool,  or  that  he  who  trained 
animals  was  greater  than  he  who  trained  the  light- 
ning; or  that  were  Utah  to  attain  to  the  culture  of 
ancient  Greece,  so  long  as  polygamy  was  practised 
they  could  not  be  called  civilized — nay,  if  John  Stuart 
Mill  were  to  marry  George  Eliot  and  Mrs  Browning, 
the  prattle  of  the  preacher  that  bound  them  would 
transform  them  into  savages  1 

There  are  as  many  varieties  of  civilization  as  there 
are  civilized  peoples.  Civilization  is  an  unfolding,  and 
civilization  develops  mainly  from  its  own  germ;  it  is 
not  a  superficial  acquisition,  but  an  inward  growth, 
even  if  nourished  by  extraneous  food.  You  may 
whitewash  a  savage  with  your  superiority,  but  you 
cannot  civilize  him  at  once. 

Whether  we  turn  to  the  extreme  eastern  kingdoms 
of  Asia,  or  to  the  region  watered  by  the  Euphrates 
and  the  Nile,  all  inhabited  since  the  remotest  historic 
past  by  races  of  acknowledged  culture,  everywhere  we 
find  vast  differences  and  strong  peculiarities  in  the 
respective  cultures,  developed  by  environment.  Some 
of  the  characteristics  are  of  a  high  order,  others  de- 
scend to  a  grade  of  actual  barbarism;  some  are  in 
course  of  development, ,  others  stationary,  or  even 
retrograding.  The  Naliua  culture  partakes  of  the 
same  traits,  fashioned  by  its  peculiar  environment. 
For  purposes  of  his  own,  Mr  Morgan  arbitrarily  pre- 
scribes limits  to  what  is  called  civilization  in  order  if 
possible  to  prevent  the  Nahuas  from  entering  its  pre- 
cincts. In  this  effort  he  ignores  many  distinctively 
higher  traits  wliich  the  most  superficial  observer  must 
discover  among  the  southern  races;  he  chooses  to  dis- 


SOMETHING  OF  THEIR  CHARACTER.  13 

regard  or  slight  the  very  distinct  evidences  of  not 
merely  settled  life,  but  of  settled  communities  under 
a  high  form  of  government,  with  advanced  institu- 
tions and  arts. 

"I  will  now  introduce  some  of  the  principal  chroni- 
clers in  person,  making  as  close  and  critical  an  analysis 
of  their  characters  and  writings  as  the  most  sceptical 
could  desire,  weighing  the  quality  of  their  evidence 
with  evenly  balanced  judicial  scales;  after  which  I 
will  present  briefly  some  facts  and  characteristics  on 
which,  according  to  my  conception  of  the  term,  the 
Nahuas  and  Mayas  may  justly  lay  claim  to  be  called 
civilized.  I  will  give  beforehand  the  proof  that 
these  traits  did  actually  exist  among  the  peoples  of 
the  Mexican  and  Central  American  table-lands  at  the 
time  of  their  conquest  by  the  Spaniards,  laying  before 
the  reader  the  principal  authorities  in  their  true 
character  as  fully  as  I  am  able  to  discover  it,  with  all 
their  merits  and  demerits,  their  veracity  and  men- 
dacity. I  am  not  aware  of  any  special  desire  to  prove 
the  presence  or  absence  of  a  civilization  in  this  in- 
stance. If  my  historical  writings  display  any  one 
marked  peculiarity,  it  is  that  of  a  critical  incredulity 
in  respect  of  both  Indian-  and  Spanish  tales.  I  have 
never  placed  myself  in  a  position  where  I  was  tempted 
to  create  or  exaggerate.  I  have  no  theory  to  advo- 
cate. '  My  narrations  are  based  on  the  reports  of  eye- 
witnesses whose  characters  have  been  studied,  whose 
education,  idiosyncrasies,  positions,  conditions,  temper, 
and  temptations  have  all  been  carefully  considered  in 
weighing  their  evidence,  and  the  results  are  so  given 
that  the  reader  can  easily  form  conclusions  of  his  own 
if  mine  do  not  satisfy  him.'* 

Imagine  the  history  of  the  conquest  written  from  the 
Morgan  standpoint.  The  story  might  be  told  based  on 
the  authority  of  the  chroniclers — it  can  never  other- 
wise be  written ;  but  all  that  they  report  in  any  way 
conflicting  with  the  preconceived  idea  must  be  thrown 


14  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

out  or  explained  away.  Imagine  my  account  of  the 
aborigines  announced  as  A  Description  of  tlie  Native 
Races  of  North  America,  founded  on  such  parts  of 
existing  Spanish  Testimony,  and  on  such  Material 
Relics  as  seem  to  agree  with  the  researcJies  of  Lewis 
II.  Morgan  among  the  Iroquois  of  New  York!  If, 
after  the  evidence  in  the  present  instance  is  fully 
given,  the  reader  prefers  denominating  the  peoples 
referred  to  as  savages  or  satyrs,  I  have  not  the 
slightest  objection. 

With  the  first  expedition  to  Mexico  went  two  men 
by  the  name  of  'Diaz,  one  a  priest  and  the  other  a 
soldier.  Both  wrote  accounts  of  what  they  saw,  thus 
giving  us  at  the  outset  narratives  from  ecclesiastical 
and  secular  standpoints.  It  was  a  voyage  along  the 
coast ;  they  did  not  penetrate  the  interior.  Observa- 
tion being  general,  the  descriptions  are  general.  There 
was  nothing  remarkable  about  the  priest;  he  was  not 
particularly  intelligent  or  honest.  I  see  no  reason  to 
doubt  the  commonplace  incidents  of  the  voyage  as 
given  in  the  Itinerario  de  Grijalva.  The  towns,  with 
their  white  stone  buildings  and  temple-towers  glisten- 
ing in  the  foliage,  remind  him  of  Seville;  when  he 
mentions  a  miracle  which  happens  at  one  of  them, 
we  know  he  is  not  telling  the  truth.  Indeed,  an 
experienced  judge  can  almost  always  arrive  at  the 
truth  even  if  the  evidence  comes  only  from  the 
mouths  of  lying  witnesses,  provided  he  can  examine 
them  apart.  Where  the  evidence  is  abundant,  the 
judge  soon  knows  more  of  the  facts  of  the  case  than 
any  one  witness,  and  can  easily  discern  the  true  state- 
ments from  the  false.  But  on  the  whole,  the  priest 
Juan  Diaz  was  quite  moderate  in  his  descriptions  of 
what  we  know  from  other  sources  to  have  been  there. 

The  same  evidence  is  offered  in  the  Ilistoria  Ver- 
dadera  of  Bernal  Diaz,  who  attended  not  only  on  this 
voyage,  but  on  the  first  and  succeeding  expeditions; 
all  is  i)lain,  unvarnished,  and  devoid  of  coloring.  If 
hyperbole  was  ever  to  be  employed  it  should  be  in 


DIAZ,  TERRAZAS.  15 

connection  with  the  revelation  of  these  first  starthng 
evidences  of  a  new  art  and  a  strange  race.  But  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  author  becomes  marked  only  as  he 
ascends  later  with  Cortes  to  the  table-land  and  there 
beholds  the  varied  extent  of  the  new  culture.  What 
stronger  proof  can  there  be  of  its  superior  grade  when 
he  passes  by  with  comparative  indifference  the  Yucatec 
specimen,  known  to  us  to  be  of  rare  beauty,  and  ex- 
presses marked  wonder  only  on  reaching  Mexico? 

Bernal  Diaz  wrote  rather  late  in  life,  after  many 
accounts  had  already  been  given.  He  prided  himself 
on  giving  a  true  history,  was  quite  as  ready  to  fight 
with  his  pen  as  with  his  sword,  and  having  had  many 
quarrels,  and  still  harboring  many  jealousies,  was 
very  apt  to  criticise  what  others  said ;  and  he  did  so 
criticise  and  refute.  The  truth  is,  there  were  here 
many  and  opposing  elements  in  the  evidence  to  win- 
now it  of  falsehood,  far  more  than  are  usually  found 
in  early  materials  for  history. 

The  memorials  of  the  relatives  of  Velazquez  to  the 
king  are  not  worth  considering,  being  little  more  than 
masses  of  misstatements  and  exaorcrerations. 

The  personage  known  as  the  Anonymous  Con- 
queror, probably  Francisco  de  Terrazas,  mayordomo 
of  Cortes,  gave  a  clear  description  of  Mexico,  the 
country,  people,  towns,  and  institutions,  and  particu- 
larly the  capital  city,  arranged  in  paragraphs  with 
proper  headings,  with  drawings  of  the  great  temple 
and  of  the  city.  His  method  and  language  denote  in- 
telligence and  inspire  confidence.  No  reason  is  known 
why  he  should  exaggerate,  many  being  apparent 
why  he  should  render  a  true  account.  If  his  testi- 
mony can  be  ruled  out  on  the  ground  that  it  does  not 
fit  a  theory,  then  can  that  of  any  man  who  furnishes 
material  for  history,  and  our  histories  may  as  well  be 
written  with  the  theories  as  authorities,  and  have  done 
with  it.  Dealing  wholly  with  native  institutions,  the 
writer  seems  to  have  no  desire,  as  is  the  case  with 
some,  to  magnify  native  strength  and  resources  for  the- 


10  THE  EARLY  AMERICAX  CHROXICLERS. 

sake  of  raising  the  estimate  of  the  deeds  of  himself 
and  comrades;  on  the  contrary,  in  speaking  of  native 
troops  and  arms,  where  a  soldier  would  be  most  in- 
clined to  boast,  the  description  rather  moderates  the 
idea  of  their  prowess.  The  population  of  Mexico  he 
gives  lower  than  most  writers,  and  yet,  when  describing 
the  city  and  its  arts,  he  grows  quite  eloquent  on  the 
size,  the  beauty,  the  advanced  features.  The  whole 
narrative  bears  the  stamp  of  reliability,  and  the  stu- 
dent may  easily  from  internal  evidence  and  com- 
parison deduct  approximate  truth. 

There  are  documents,  such  as  Carta  del  Ejercito  and 
ProlKtnza  de  Lejalde,  attested  under  oath  by  hundreds, 
and  therefore  apparently  worthy  of  credit  above  others ; 
but  when  we  examine  the  motives  for  their  production, 
and  find  that  they  were  intended  to  palliate  the  con- 
duct of  the  conquerors,  our  confidence  is  shaken, 

Hernan  Cortes  was  ever  ready  with  a  lie  when  it 
suited  his  purpose,  but  he  was  far  too  wise  a  man  need- 
lessly to  waste  so  useful  an  agent.  He  would  not,  and 
did  not,  acquire  a  name  for  untruthfulness.  He  knew 
that  others  were  writing  as  well  as  himself,  and  it 
could  by  no  possibility  bring  him  permanent  benefit 
to  indulge  in  much  deception.  His  misstatements 
chiefly  affect  himself  and  his  enemies  and  opponents 
among  his  own  countrymen;  in  giving  detailed  infor- 
mation concerning  the  natives  there  was  little  temp- 
tation to  deceive.  His  Cartas  might  naturally  be 
expected  to  aim  at  extolling  his  achievements  and  the 
value  of  his  discovery.  Expecting  some  coloring,  the 
student  is  forewarned.  We  find  at  times  what  v/e  feel 
inclin(;d  to  stamp  as  exaggeration,  but  here  also  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  narrator  rises  only  as  he  approaches 
Mexico,  the  fame  of  which  is  dinned  into  his  ears  all 
along  his  march,  and  that  by  the  natives  nearer  the 
coast,  whose  high  advancement  is  attested  by  ruins 
and  relics.  Internal  and  collateral  evidence  shows  his 
first  descriptions  of  sights  to  be  far  from  overrated, 
and  his  later  discoveries  to  be  in  the  main  quite  trust- 


HERNAN  CORTES.  17 

worthy.  Indeed,  aware  that  some  of  his  statements 
may  be  doubted,  he  urges  his  sovereign  more  than 
once  to  send  out  a  commission  to  verify  them. 

Such  verification  was  exacted.  Officials  did  come 
out  to  report  on  the  conquest  and  its  value,  only  to 
join,  in  the  main,  in  confirmation  of  what  had  been 
said.  A  series  of  questions  was  also  sent  to  public 
men  in  Mexico  not  long  after  the  conquest,  bearing  to 
a  great  extent  on  the  native  culture,  and  the  answers 
all  tend  to  confirm  the  high  estimate  alread}''  formed 
from  the  specimens  and  reports  forwarded  to  Spain. 
One  of  the  most  exhaustive  answers  was  sent  by  the 
eminent  jurist  Alonso  de  Zurita,  connected  for  nearly 
twenty  years  with  Spanish  audiencias  in  New  Spain. 
He  reviews  the  native  institutions  with  calm  and  clear 
judgment,  and  it  is  only  in  rejecting  the  epithet  of 
barbarians  as  bestowed  by  unthinking  persons — a  term 
applied  also  to  Europeans  by  Chinese — that  he  grows 
indignant,  declaring  that  none  who  had  any  knowledge 
of  Mexican  institutions  and  capacity  could  use  such 
a  term.  He  spoke  while  evidences  were  quite  fresh, 
and  well  knew  what  he  affirmed.  Similar  confirm- 
atory evidence  may  be  found  massed  in  the  various 
collections  of  letters  and  narratives  about  the  Indies 
brought  to  light  from  the  archives  of  Spain  and 
America,  and  published  by  the  editors  of  the  extensive 
Coleccion  de  Documentos  Ineditos;  Coleccion  de  Docu- 
mentos  para  la  Historia  de  Mexico,  etc. ;  by  the  learned 
Navarrete,  Ramirez,  Icazbalceta,  Ternaux-Compans, 
and  others. 

Still  stronger  evidence  of  the  reliability  of  the 
early  authorities  comes  from  the  consideration  that 
the  rumors  of  Mexico's  grandeur  and  wealth  attracted 
vast  hordes  of  hungry  seekers  for  gold,  grants  of  land, 
and  office.  Of  course,  most  of  them  were  disap- 
pointed, and  Cortes,  from  his  inability  to  please  and 
gratify  all,  raised  a  host  of  enemies,  who  joined  the 
large  number  already  arraigned  against  him  by  reason 
of  his  successes.     Their  aim  was  naturally  to  vilify 

Essays  amd  Miscellamt.    2 


18  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHROXICLERS. 

him,  to  lower  the  achievements  of  the  conquest,  and 
to  detract  from  the  land  which  had  failed  to  satisfy 
them.  If  ever  a  subject  was  assailed,  it  was  this  of 
Mexico,  her  resources  and  people;  assailed,  too,  during 
the  very  opening  years  of  the  occupation,  when  the 
testimony  of  eye-witnesses  was  abundant,  and  particu- 
larly of  the  disappointed,  whose  voice  was  loudest. 
Notwithstanding  all  this  the  glories  of  Mexico  stand 
unshaken,  and  greater  grow  the  confirmed  ideas  of 
the  superior  condition  of  her  race  in  number,  culture, 
and  resources;  and  this,  too,  when  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernment began  to  discountenance  the  glowing  reports 
of  native  superiority,  and  to  lower  the  estimates  of 
aboriginal  wealth  and  condition,  with  a  view  to  keep 
foreign  attention  from  the  country,  and  to  hide  the 
facts  which  would  tell  against  it  for  crushing  a  high 
culture  and  enslaving  a  noble  race. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  writings  of  Sahagun,  Las 
Casas,  and  others,  were  suppressed  or  neglected.  But 
if  many  such  were  lost,  others  came  finally  to  light 
to  receive  additional  confirmation  from  the  native 
records.  It  is  to  these  records  that  we  must  look 
not  only  for  confirmation  of  what  the  chroniclers 
relate,  but  for  the  only  reliable  data  on  political  ma- 
chinery' and  other  esoteric  subjects  with  which  Span- 
iards could  not  become  so  well  acquainted.  The  value 
of  native  records  as  supplementary  and  confirmatory 
evidence  is  self-evident,  since  they  were  written  by 
and  for  the  natives  themselves,  and  naturally  without 
the  idea  of  exaggeration  or  deception  being  dominant. 
A  sufficient  number  of  original  and  copied  native 
manuscripts  or  paintings  exists  in  different  museums 
and  libraries,  relating  not  only  to  historic  events.  But 
describing  the  nature  and  development  of  institutions 
and  arts. 

Besides  the  actual  records,  many  histories  exist, 
by  natives  and  friars,  based  wholly  on  such  paintings 
and  on  traditions  and  personal  observations,  such 
as  those  of  Tczozomoc,  Camargo,  and  Ixtlilxochitl. 


NATIVE  HISTORIAXS.  19 

Each  of  these  native  authors  wrote  from  a  different 
standpoint,  in  the  interest  of  his  respective  govern- 
ment. Camargo,  for  instance,  as  a  Tlascaltec  is  bit- 
terly hostile  to  the  Aztecs,  and  seeks  of  course  to 
detract  from  their  grandeur  in  order  to  raise  his  own 
people.  He  rather  avoids  dwelling  on  Aztec  glories; 
nevertheless  frequent  admissions  appear  which  help 
to  confirm  the  impression  of  their  advanced  institu- 
tions. Ixtlilxochitl,  again,  writes  from  the  family- 
archives  of  his  royal  house  of  Tezcuco,  and  dwells 
upon  the  deeds  and  grandeur  of  his  city  and  tribe. 
None  of  these  authors  possess  sufficient  skill  to  con- 
ceal the  coloring  which  constitutes  their  chief  defect 
as  authorities.  A  number  of  chroniclers,  and  even 
modern  writers  like  Brasseur  de  Bourbourg,  have 
used  native  paintings  and  narratives  more  or  less  for 
their  histories,  while  certain  others,  like  Veytia,  de- 
pend upon  them  or  their  translations  almost  wholly. 

Ixtlilxochitl  was  called  by  Bustamante  the  Cicero 
of  Andhuac,  and  of  course  is  to  be  taken  with  allow- 
ance in  speaking  of  his  people.  And  so  with  Father 
Duran — I  would  no  more  trust  a  zealous  priest  while 
defending  the  natives  than  I  would  trust  Morgan 
while  defending  his  theory. 

The  reliability  of  translators  is  best  judged  by  the 
method  used  by  Father  Sahagun  in  the  formation 
of  the  Historia  General,  the  three  volumes  of  which 
are  devoted  to  an  account  of  native  manners  and  cus- 
toms, their  domestic  and  public  life,  their  festivals 
and  rites,  their  institutions  and  traits.  Instructed  by 
his  superiors,  the  friar  called  upon  intelligent  and 
learned  Indians  in  different  places  to  paint  in  hiero- 
glyphics their  accounts  of  these  subjects.  To  these, 
explanations  were  attached  in  full  Mexican  text,  and 
tested  by  further  inquiries,  and  then  translated  into 
Spanish  by  Sahagun.  Many  of  the  narratives  are 
vague  and  absurd,  yet  these  very  faults  point  in  most 
cases  to  simple-minded  earnestness  and  frankness,  and 
render  the  work  rather  easier  for  the  discriminating 


80  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

student  to  sift.  The  honesty  of  Sahagun's  labors 
brought  upon  them  obloquy  and  neglect,  which  only 
the  more  serve  to  commend  the  worK  to  us. 

It  is  from  such  sources,  original  and  translated 
native  records,  and  verbal  and  written  narrations  of 
eye-witnesses,  that  succeeding  writers,  or  chroniclers 
proper,  obtained  the  main  })ortion  of  their  accounts 
of  conquests  and  aboriginal  institutions.  They  them- 
selves had  opportunities  for  observation ;  and  actuated 
by  different  motives,  they  were  naturally  impelled  to 
investio^ate  and  weigh  to  a  certain  extent,  whether 
for  zeal  of  Spanish  fame,  or  with  desire  to  raise  the 
achievements  of  favorites,  or  to  detract  from  the 
glories  of  envied  or  detested  leaders. 

Las  Casas,  for  instance,  in  his  different  works 
stands  forward  as  a  pronounced  champion  of  the 
natives,  and  unflinchingly  lashes  the  conquerors  and 
liistorians  for  what  he  terms  cruelty,  unjust  policy, 
and  false  statement.  His  Ilistoria  Apologetlca  is 
])urely  a  defence  of  the  Indians,  their  institutions  and 
characteristics,  and  consequently  to  be  accepted  with 
caution.  The  need  of  this  caution  becomes  stronger 
when  we  behold  the  extreme  exaggerations  to  which 
he  is  led  in  the  Breve  Relacion,  claiming  to  be  an  expose 
of  Spanish  excesses  and  cruelties.  In  the  Ilistoria  de 
l(us  Indias,  again,  he  allows  his  feelings  of  friendship 
for  Velazquez  to  detract  from  the  achievements  of 
Cortes.  On  every  hand,  therefore,  the  historian  finds 
reasons  for  accepting  with  caution  the  statements  of 
Las  Ca.sas;  but  thus  forewarned,  he  is  able  to  reject 
the  false  and  determine  the  true.  He  also  finds  that 
when  not  blinded  by  zeal  the  worthy  bishop  is  honest, 
and  withal  a  keen  and  valuable  observer,  guided  by 
practical  sagacity  and  endowed  with  a  certain  genius. 

His  contemporary,  Oviedo,  although  less  talented, 
is  by  no  means  deficient  in  knowledge,  and  a  varied 
experience  in  both  hemispheres  had  given  him  a 
useful  insight  into  affairs.  He  is  not  partial  to  the 
natives,  and  Las  Casas  actually  denounces  his  state- 


LAS  CASAS,  OVIEDO,  PETER  MARTYR,  GOMARA.  21 

ments  against  them  as  lies.  This  is  hardly  just,  ex- 
cept in  some  instances.  While  personally  acquainted 
only  with  the  region  to  the  south  of  Nicaragua  Lake, 
his  account  embraces  all  Spanish  conquests  in  the 
western  Indies,  the  facts  being  gathered  from  every 
accessible  source,  and  either  compiled  or  given  in 
separate  form.  Indian  and  Spaniard,  friend,  foe,  and 
rival,  all  receive  a  hearing  and  a  record,  so  that  his 
work  is  to  a  great  extent  a  mass  of  testimony  from 
opposite  sides.  This  to  the  hasty  reader  may  present 
a  contradictory  appearance,  as  Las  Casas  is  led  to 
assume,  but  to  the  student  such  material  is  valuable. 

A  third  contemporary  and  famous  writer  is  Peter 
Martyr,  a  man  of  brilliant  attainments,  deep  clear 
mind,  and  honest  purpose,  who  had  gained  for  him- 
self a  prominent  position  in  Spain,  and  even  a  seat  in 
the  Council  of  the  Indies.  Naturally  interested  in 
the  New  World,  whose  affairs  were  then  unfolding, 
he  eagerly  questioned  those  who  came  thence,  con- 
sulted their  charts  and  reports,  and  was  thus  enabled 
to  form  a  more  accurate  opinion  about  the  Indians 
and  their  land  than  their  own,  based  as  it  was  on  so 
much  and  varied  testimony.  A  fault,  however,  is 
the  haste  with  which  his  summaries  were  formed, 
both  in  order  and  detail;  yet  even  this  defect  tends 
to  leave  the  narrative  unvarnished  and  free  from  a 
dangerous  elaboration.  Even  Las  Casas  admits  its 
credibility. 

The  different  minds,  motives,  prejudices,  and  even 
antagonisms,  of  these  three  writers  each  impart  an 
additional  value  to  their  respective  writings  from 
which  the, historian  cannot  fail  to  derive  benefit. 

Like  Peter  Martyr,  Gomara  took  his  material 
entirely  from  testimony,  chiefly  letters,  reports,  and 
other  documents  in  the  archives  of  Cortes,  his  patron, 
and  collections  to  which  his  influence  gained  access. 
His  high  literary  tastes  gave  a  zest  to  his  writings, 
but  impelled  him  also  to  elaboration,  and  his  Ilistoria 
de  Mexico  is  colored  by  his  predilections  as  biographer 


22  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

of  the  conqueror.  On  the  other  hand,  lie  finds  en- 
dorsement in  the  decree  which  was  issued  against 
his  production  for  its  free  treatment  of  government 
affairs,  and  comparison  with  other  histories  reveals 
the  many  valuable  points  which  he  has  brought  to 
light.  The  adoption  of  his  Mexican  work  by  so 
prominent  a  native  as  Chimalpain  is  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent an  assurance  of  its  truthfulness. 

Munoz  places  Gomara  among  the  first  of  the 
chroniclers.  He  had  no  special  reason  that  w^e  can 
see  to  extol  unduly  native  institutions.  He  wrote 
early  enough  to  know  all  about  them,  but  not  so  early 
as  to  be  carried  away  by  a  first  enthusiasm.  Made 
secretar}'  and  chaplain  to  Cortes  in  1540,  his  object 
of  adulation  was  his  patron,  in  recounting  whose 
deeds  he  cannot  be  trusted.  Neither  had  Cortes,  as 
before  remarked,  special  interest,  least  of  all  at  this 
time,  in  magnifying  the  civilization — the  civilization 
he  had  destroyed.  Alvarado  and  others  of  the  chron- 
iclers were  repeatedly  tried  by  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment for  their  cruelty  to  the  natives,  whom  it  was 
the  desire  of  both  church  and  state  to  preserve.  It 
would  therefore  be  rather  in  their  favor  for  the  con- 
querors to  hold  them  up  as  ignoble  and  low. 

The  learned  and  elegant  Antonio  de  Solis,  though 
so  bigoted  as  to  render  his  deductions  in  many  in- 
stances puerile,  and  though  constantly  raving  against 
the  natives,  was  closely  followed  by  both  Robertson 
and  Prescott. 

Herrera,  the  historiographer  of  the  Indies,  uses 
the  material  of  all  the  preceding  writers,  in  addition  to 
original  narratives,  and  has  in  his  Ilistorkt,  General 
the  most  complete  account  of  American  affairs  up  to 
his  time.  His  method  of  massing  material  makes  it 
most  valuable,  but  a  slavish  adherence  to  chronology 
destroys  the  sequence,  interferes  with  broad  views, 
and  renders  the  reading  uninteresting.  This  defect  is 
increasefl  by  a  bald,  prolix  style,  the  effect  of  inexpe- 
rienced aid,  and  by  the  extreme  patriotism  and  piety 


HERRERA,  TORQUEMADA,  MENDIETA  ^ 

which  often  set  aside  integrity  and  humanity.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  in  some  measure  tempered  and 
corrected  the  exaggerations  of  his  predecessors. 

Torquemada  was  less  critical  in  accepting  material, 
but  he  was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  exhaust  the 
information  about  New  Spain  and  her  natives,  and 
his  Monarquia  Indiana  is  the  most  complete  account 
extant  on  its  combination  of  topics.  Though  an  able 
work,  it  contains  many  errors;  yet  the  manifold  sources 
of  information  all  the  more  help  the  student  to  arrive 
at  the  truth.  Torquemada  amassed  a  great  deal  of 
private  information  about  native  institutions  during 
the  fifty  years  of  his  labor  among  the  Indians,  and 
he  made  use  of  many  histories  then  unpublished — 
instance  those  of  Sahagun,  Mendieta,  and  others. 

Mendieta  was  an  ardent  champion  of  the  natives, 
and  a  bitter  opponent  of  the  audiencia  and  govern- 
ment officials,  yet  in  mundane  affairs  he  possessed 
sound  judgment,  so  much  so  that  he  was  frequently 
intrusted  with  important  missions  of  a  diplomatic  na- 
ture. He  became  the  historian  of  his  ijrovincia,  and 
gained  the  title  of  its  Cicero.  His  Historia  Eclesi- 
dstica,  which  treats  chiefly  of  the  missionary  progress 
of  his  order,  contains  a  great  deal  of  matter  on  native 
customs,  arts,  and  traits. 

Mendieta  may  be  regarded  as  the  pupil  of  Toribio 
de  Benavente,  whose  humility  of  spirit  caused  him  to 
adopt  the  name  of  Motolinia,  applied  by  the  Indians 
out  of  commiseration  for  his  appearance.  Not  that 
he  was  very  humble  in  all  matters,  as  may  be  seen 
from  his  bitter  attack  on  Las  Casas.  In  this  in- 
stance, however,  he  was  merely  an  exponent  of  the 
hostility  prevailing  between  the  Franciscans,  to  which 
he  belonged,  and  the  Dominicans,  which  led  to  many 
pen  contests  and  contradictory  measures  for  the  In- 
dians, from  all  of  which  the  historian  gains  new  facts. 
Motolinia  arrived  in  Mexico  in  1524,  and  wandered 
over  it  and  the  countries  to  the  south  for  a  series  of 
years,  teaching  and  converting.    He  is  claimed  to  have 


91  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

baptized  over  four  hundred  thousand  persons.  His 
knowledge  of  the  aborigines  and  long  intercourse  with 
them  before  their  customs  were  changed,  enabled  him 
to  acquire  most  important  information  about  them. 
All  this,  together  with  the  story  of  his  mission  work, 
is  related  m  the  Historia  de  los  Indios  de  Niieva 
Esjmila,  written  in  a  rambling  manner,  with  a  niiive 
acceptance  of  the  marvellous,  yet  bearing  a  stamp  of 
truthfulness  that  wins  confidence. 

Occasionally  there  have  risen  writers  who,  from 
excess  of  zeal,  personal  ambition,  or  careless  study  of 
facts,  sought  to  cast  doubts  on  native  culture  and 
similar  topics,  like  De  Pau  and  Raynal,  only  to  evoke 
replies  more  or  less  hasty.  This  unsatisfactory  contest 
roused  the  ire,  among  others,  of  the  learned  Jesuit 
Clavigero.  Himself  born  in  Mexico,  his  patriotic 
zeal  was  kindled,  and  during  a  residence  there  of 
thirty-five  years,  till  driven  forth  by  the  general  edict 
against  his  order,  he  made  the  ancient  history  and 
institutions  thereof  his  special  study.  The  result  was 
the  Storia  Antica  del  Messico,  which  if  less  bulky  than 
Torqucmada's  work,  is  far  more  satisfactory  in  its 

f)lan  for  thoroughness  and  clearness,  and  remains  the 
eading  authority  in  its  field.  Clavigero  is  generally 
admitted  to  have  refuted  the  two  prominent  oppo- 
nents above  named  on  the  culture  questions,  even 
though  his  statements  are  at  times  colored  with  the 
heat  of  argument  and  with  zeal  for  race. 

Among  the  remaining  historians  who  treat  on  civi- 
lized tribes  may  be  named  Acosta,  who  in  speaking 
of  Mexican  culture  borrows  wholly  from  Duran,  a 
Franciscan,  bom  in  New  Spain  of  a  native  mother, 
and  consequently  predisposed  in  favor  of  his  race. 
Indeed,  nearly  all  of  Duran's  bulky  narrative  on 
ancient  history  and  institutions  is  not  only  from  native 
sources,  but  from  a  native  standpoint.  Vetancurt, 
who  agrees  mainly  with  Torquemada,  follows  both 
native  and  Spanish  versions.  Benzoni  offers  a  good 
deal  of  personal   observation  on  Central  American 


OTHER  writers:  25 

Indians  and  affairs,  but  copies  hearsay  when  he 
touches  on  Mexico.  Writers  on  special  districts  are 
also  numerous.  Bishop  Landa  wrote  on  Yucatan  and 
its  culture,  and  is  accused  of  having  given  forth  an 
invented  alphabet  as  the  Maya.  Cogolludo  adds  much 
to  his  accounts,  while  Fuentes,  Remesal,  Vasquez, 
Villagutierre,  and  Juarros  exhaust  the  adjoining  fields 
of  Chiapas  and  Guatemala.  Thence  northward  the 
circle  may  be  continued  with  Burgoa's  works  on 
Oajaca,  Beaumont's  on  Michoacan,  Mota  Padilla's 
on  Nueva  Galicia,  Arlegui's  on  Zacatecas,  Ribas'  on 
Sinaloa;  and  so  forth. 

Descriptions  of  the  chroniclers  and  their  works 
might  be  carried  to  almost  any  extent,  but  sufficient 
has  been  given,  I  trust,  to  prove  their  testimony, 
taken  as  a  whole,  closely  sifted  and  carefully  weighed, 
to  be  quite  as  worthy  of  credence  as  that  from  which 
history  is  usually  derived.  I  cannot  throw  to  the 
winds  such  testimony  in  order  that  certain  specu- 
lators may  the  better  win  converts  to  their  fancy. 

The  traducers  of  Aztec  culture  and  its  chroniclers 
have  evidently  failed  in  that  most  important  point  of 
carefully  reading,  comparing,  and  analyzing  the  author- 
ities which  they  so  recklessly  condemn  as  a  mass  of 
fiction  or  exaggeration.  It  seems  to  me  ridiculous  for 
the  superficial  readers  of  a  few  books  to  criticise  the 
result  of  such  throrough  researches  as  Prescott's,  and 
even  to  sweep  them  all  away  with  one  contemptuous 
breath.  I  for  one  can  testify  to  Prescott's  general 
fairness  and  accuracy.  His  researches  and  writings 
are  beyond  all  comparison  with  those  of  an}?^  modern 
theorist.  Others  also  have  read,  compared,  and  ana- 
lyzed the  authorities  on  Mexico,  perhaps  even  more 
than  Prescott,  for  fresh  documents  have  appeared 
since  his  time;  and  while  some  errors  and  discrep- 
ancies have  been  discovered,  yet  in  the  main  neither 
Nahua  culture  nor  the  chronicles  and  records  de- 
scribing it  can  be  said  to  have  been  misrepresented  or 
exaggerated  by  him. 


28  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

The  very  discrepancies  in  the  accounts  of  different 
chroniclers,  which  to  the  experienced  observer  indi- 
cate genuineness  and  truthfulness,  are  paraded  by  the 
superficial  reader  as  proof  of  falsity.  The  chroniclers 
have  for  centuries  been  exposed  to  numerous  and 
severe  ordeals  of  critique,  and  their  respective  defects 
and  merits  have  been  widely  discussed;  but  on  the 
whole  these  discussions  tend  to  confirm  the  state- 
ments which  I  have  given,  some  of  the  strongest 
testimony  being  found  in  their  very  differences  and 
blunders.  Thus  not  even  their  bigotry,  then  so  strong 
and  wide-spread,  their  simplicity,  their  prejudices  in 
different  directions,  none  of  these  can  conceal  the 
truth  or  its  main  features,  although  occasional  points 
may  still  remain  hidden  under  a  false  coloring.  The 
rigid  censorship  exercised  in  Spain  over  all  writings 
led  to  the  suppression  of  many  works,  but  the  main 
effort  was  to  suppress  heterodoxy  and  unfavorable 
reflections  on  Spanish  policy,  and  if  culture  questions 
were  touched,  to  lower  the  estimate  thereof  in  order 
to  cover  vandalism. 

While  thoroughly  convinced  that  we  have  in  the 
early  American  chroniclers  a  solid  foundation  for  his- 
tory, as  before  stated  I  do  not  by  any  means  accept 
as  truth  all  they  say;  I  do  not  accept  half  of  what 
some  say,  while  others  I  find  it  difficult  to  believe 
at  all.  Upon  this  basis,  then — that  is,  on  the  basis 
of  truth  and  well  sifted  facts — I  will  present  a  few  of 
the  leading  characteristics  of  the  Nahua  and  Maya 
peoples,  sufficient  in  my  opinion  to  justify  their  claim, 
as  the  world  goes,  to  be  called  civilized. 

Whether  those  who  thus  affect  to  disbelieve  in 
Aztec  culture,  including  such  men  as  Lewis  Cass 
and  R.  A.  Wilson,  advocate  an  Old  World  origin  for 
some  of  the  advanced  features  does  not  matter,  for 
there  is  absolutely  no  evidence  for  such  origin  beyond 
resemblances  which  may  be  traced  between  nations 
throughout  the  world;  on  the  other  hand,  there  are 


THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO.  27 

strong  internal  evidences  of  the  autochthonic  origin 
of  some  of  the  highest  features  of  this  civihzation, 
such  as  hieroglyphics  and  many  branches  of  the  higher 
arts.  Besides,  the  existence  or  non-existence  of  these 
advanced  arts  is  the  point  in  question,  not  whence 
they  came. 

The  city  of  Mexico  presents  many  features  of  ad- 
vanced urban  life  under  Aztec  occupation,  not  alone 
as  related  by  chroniclers,  but  as  proved  by  incidental 
details  in  the  account  of  the  sieges  of  and  by  the 
Spaniards,  and  by  the  ruins.  Humboldt  found  distinct 
traces  of  the  old  city,  extending  in  some  directions  far 
beyond  the  present  actual  limits;  and  the  numerous 
and  substantial  causeways  which  led  to  it  for  several 
miles  through  the  lake  prove  that  it  must  have  been 
of  great  extent.  The  causeways,  though  now  passing 
over  dry  land,  are  still  in  use,  and  reveal  their  solidity. 
Any  one  who  will  carefully  read  the  military  report 
and  other  accounts  of  the  long  and  hard  siege  must 
become  impressed  with  the  vast  extent  and  strength 
of  the  city;  the  large  number  and  size  of  its  temple 
pyramids  affirm  the  same.  Through  an  aqueduct  of 
masonry  several  miles  long  it  was  supplied  with  water, 
which  was  distributed  by  pipes,  and  by  boatmen. 
Light-houses  guided  the  lake  traffic;  a  large  body  of 
men  kept  the  numerous  canals  in  order,  swept  the 
streets,  and  sprinkled  them.  The  houses  were,  many 
of  them,  large  and  well  built.  The  emperor's  palace 
contained  many  suites  of  rooms  designed  for  individual 
occupation,  not  at  all  like  anything  in  New  Mexico. 
Temple -towers  and  turrets  were  frequent,  proving 
that  structures  several  stories  in  height  were  in  use. 

Among  the  Nahuas  the  several  branches  of  art 
were  under  control  of  a  council  or  academy,  with  a 
view  to  promote  development  of  poetry,  music,  oratory, 
painting,  and  sculpture,  though  chiefly  literary  arts, 
and  to  check  the  production  of  defective  work.  Before 
this  council  poems  and  essays  were  recited,  and  inven- 
tions exhibited. 


28  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

If  distortion  assumes  prominence  in  a  large  class  of 
models  instead  of  ideal  beauty,  this  must  be  attributed 
to  the  peculiarity  and  cruelty  of  certain  Aztec  insti- 
tutions, which  stamp  their  traits  on  subjective  art. 

Beauty  of  outline  is  nevertheless  common,  notably 
in  the  rich  ornamentation  to  be  seen  on  ruins,  and 
on  art  relics  transmitted  in  large  nmnbers  to  Spain 
by  the  conquerors.  The  friezes  or  borders  equal  the 
Grecian  in  elegant  outline  and  combination.  The 
well  known  calendar  stone  contains  in  itself  a  vast 
number  of  beautiful  designs.  Some  of  the  vases  in 
the  museums  at  Mexico  and  Washington  surpass  the 
Etruscan  in  beauty  of  form  and  in  tasteful  decora- 
tions. Again,  the  terra-cotta  heads  picked  up  round 
Teotihuacan,  some  of  which  I  have  in  my  possession, 
exhibit  a  most  truthful  delineation  of  the  human  face, 
with  considerable  expression,  and  are  of  actual  beauty. 

Other  admirable  specimens  are  the  female  Aztec 
idol  in  the  British  Museum,  the  mosaic  knife  with  its 
human  figure  from  Christy's  collection,  the  skin-clad 
Aztec  priest,  the  Ethiopian  granite  head,  the  beauti- 
ful head  from  Mitla,  and  the  grotesque  figures  from 
the  Mexican  gulf.  Such  specimens  suffice  to  establish 
the  existence  of  a  high  degree  of  art  among  the 
Nahuas. 

As  for  the  advance  exhibited  by  adjoining  races, 
one  glance  at  the  numerous  artistic  designs  and 
groupings  on  Yucatan  ruins  must  command  admira- 
tion, which  rises  as  the  observer  examines  the  monu- 
ments at  Palenque,  with  their  extent  of  massive 
edifices,  their  advanced  mode  of  construction,  their 
galleries,  their  arches,  their  fine  fa5ade  and  interior 
ornamentation,  and  above  all,  their  numerous  human 
figures  of  absolute  beauty  in  model.  This  apjjlies 
also  to  some  terra-cotta  relics  from  the  same  quarter. 

Ornamental  work  in  gold  and  silver  had  reached  a 
perfection  which  struck  the  Spaniards  with  admira- 
tion, and  much  of  the  metal  obtained  by  them  was 
given  to  native  smiths  to  shape  into  models  and  set- 


WORK  IN  METALS.  29 

tings.  Many  pieces  sent  to  Europe  were  pronounced 
superior  to  what  Old  World  artists  could  then  pro- 
duce. Birds  and  other  animals  were  modelled  with 
astonishing  exactness,  and  furnished  with  movable 
wings,  legs,  and  tongues.  The  so-called  'lost  art'  of 
casting  parts  of  the  same  object  of  different  metals 
was  known;  thus  fishes  were  modelled  with  alternate 
scales  of  gold  and  silver.  Copper  and  other  metals 
were  gilded  by  a  process  which  would  have  made  the 
fortune  of  a  goldsmith  in  Europe.  Furnaces,  perhaps 
of  earthen- ware,  and  blowpipes,  are  depicted  on  native 
paintings  in  connection  with  gold-working. 

Although  there  had  been  but  little  progress  in 
mining,  yet  a  beginning  appears  to  have  been  made 
to  obtain  metals  and  minerals  from  the  solid  rock,  and 
melting,  casting,  hammering,  and  carving  were  in  use 
among  goldsmiths  and  other  workers,  as  shown  in 
native  paintings.  This  is  one  of  the  strongest  proofs 
that  the  Nahuas  were  in  a  progressive  civilization, 
not  at  a  stand-still  nor  retrograding,  for  such  mining 
and  melting  methods  must  surely  lead  to  the  discovery 
of  iron  ere  they  stopped.  Cutting  implements  were 
made  of  copper  alloyed  with  tin,  and  tempered  to 
great  hardness.  Yet  stone  tools  were  still  chiefly 
used,  particularly  those  of  obsidian,  from  which  mir- 
rors were  also  made,  equal  in  reflecting  power  to 
those  of  Europe  at  that  time,  it  was  said.  Softer 
stone  being  chiefly  used,  flint  implements  sufficed 
for  the  sculptor;  yet  specimens  exist  in  hard  stone. 
Precious  stones  were  cut  with  copper  tools,  with  the 
aid  of  silicious  sand,  and  carved  in  forms  of  ani- 
mals. Specimens  of  their  art  in  stone  and  metal  were 
received  in  Europe,  where  chroniclers  of  different 
minds  and  impulses  write  in  ecstasy  over  workman- 
ship which  in  so  many  instances  surpassed  in  excel- 
lence that  of  Spain.  The  fabrics  and  feather-work 
were  equally  admired  for  fTneness~of  texture,  brilliancy 
of  coloring,  and  beauty  of  arrangement  and  form.  So 
accurate  were  the  representations  of  animals  in  relief 


80  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

and  drawing  as  to  serve  the  naturalist  Hernandez  for 
models. 

The  Nahua  paintings  show  little  artistic  merit,  be- 
cause the  figures  have  necessarily  to  be  conventional, 
for  better  intelligence,  as  were  the  Egyptian  hiero- 
glyphics. This  necessity  naturally  cramped  art.  But 
while  the  Egyptians  carried  the  conventionality  even 
to  sculpture  and  painting  generally,  the  Nahuas  clung 
to  it  closely  only  in  their  writings;  and  it  needs 
but  a  glance  at  many  specimens  among  ruins  and 
relics  to  see  that  considerable  skill  had  been  reached 
in  delineating  even  the  human  form  and  face  in 
plastic  material,  for  in  painting  the  development  was 
small.  An  art,  however,  which  approached  that  of 
painting  was  the  formation  of  designs  and  imitation 
of  animal  forms,  and  even  faces,  with  feathers — feather- 
mosaic — so  beautifully  done  that  the  feather-pictures 
are  declared  by  wondering  Spaniards  to  have  equalled 
the  best  works  of  European  painters.  Specimens  are 
still  to  be  seen  in  museums.  The  artist  would  often 
spend  hours,  even  days,  in  selecting  and  adjusting 
one  feather  in  order  to  obtain  the  desired  shade  of 
color. 

Fabrics  wore  made  of  cotton,  of  rabbit-hair,  or  of 
both  mixed,  or  with  feather  admixture.  The  rabbit- 
hair  fabrics  were  pronounced  equal  in  finish  and  text- 
ure to  silk.  The  fibres  of  maguey  and  palm  leaves 
were  used  for  coarser  cloth.  Paper  in  long  narrow 
sheets  was  made  chiefly  of  maguey  fibres,  and  though 
thick,  the  surface  was  smooth.  Gums  appear  to  have 
been  used  for  cohesion.  Parchment  was  also  used. 
Skins  were  tanned  by  a  process  not  described,  but  the 
result  is  hi<Thly  praised.  In  dyeing  they  appeared  to 
have  excelled  Europeans,  and  cochineal  and  other 
dyes  have  been  introduced  among  us  from  them. 
Many  of  their  secrets  in  this  art  have  since  been  lost. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  the  palaces  of  the  rulers 
were  of  immense  extent,  and  provided  with  manifold 
comforts  and  specimens,  of  art.    Numerous  divisions 


NAHUA  INSTITUTIONS.  31 

existed  for  harems,  private  rooms,  reception  and  state 
rooms,  guard -rooms,  servants'  quarter,  storehouses, 
gardens,  and  menageries.  The  chroniclers  speak  of 
walls  faced  with  polished  marble  and  jasper;  of  balco- 
nies supported  bymonoliths,  of  sculptures  and  carvings, 
of  tapestry  brilliant  in  colors  and  fine  in  texture,  of 
censers  with  burning  perfume.  The  admitted  excel- 
lence in  arts  and  wealth,  the  possession  of  rare  stones 
and  metals,  permits  to  some  extent  the  belief  in  a 
Hall  of  Gold,  Room  of  Emeralds,  and  so  forth,  which 
the  chroniclers  place  within  the  palaces. 

The  menagerie  at  Mexico  was  large  and  varied,  and 
the  many  beautifully  laid  out  gardens  in  all  parts  of 
the  country,  some  devoted  to  scientific  advancement, 
denote  a  high  status  in  natural  history. 

Throughout  the  narratives  of  the  chroniclers  the 
Aztec  ruler  receives  the  title  of  emperor,  which  it  was 
not  the  custom  of  the  conquerors  to  give  unadvisedly. 
It  was  almost  a  sacred  title  in  their  eyes,  their  own 
sovereign  being  so  called,  and  they  were  not  likely  to 
apply  that  title  to  a  common  Indian  chief.  Indeed, 
the  native  records  relate  that  Montezuma  II.  after 
many  conquests  assumed  the  title  emperor,  or  ruler, 
of  the  world.  In  two  of  the  Nahua  kingdoms  the 
succession  was  lineal  and  hereditary,  and  fell  to  the 
eldest  legitimate  son,  those  born  of  concubines  or 
lesser  wives  being  passed  over.  In  Mexico  election 
prevailed,  but  the  choice  was  restricted  to  one  family. 
The  system  resembled  very  much  that  of  the  electoral 
German  empire.  Each  of  these  rulers  was  expected 
to  confer  with  a  council,  the  number  and  composition 
of  whose  members  are  not  quite  satisfactorily  estab^ 
lished.  Executive  government  was  intrusted  to  regu- 
larly appointed  officials  and  tribunals.  In  Tlascala  a 
parliament  composed  of  the  nobility  and  headed  by 
the  four  lords  determined  the  affairs  of  government. 

The  native  records  indicate  a  number  of  classes  and 
orders  among  nobles,  officials,  and  warriors.  The 
highest  were  the  feudal  lords,  as  in  TezciicOv  whosa- 


32  THE  EARLY  A^IERICAN  CHROXICLERS. 

Eosition  corresponded  very  much  to  that  of  the  miQ^hty 
aron  of  Gerraany  in  former  times, all  kept  from  defying 
the  supreme  ruler  by  a  balancing  of  power,  by  private 
jealousies,  and  later  by  the  ruler  increasing  their  num- 
bers, and  thus  closely  attaching  to  himself  a  large  pro- 
portion, and  by  obliging  others  to  constantly  reside  in 
the  capital,  either  to  form  a  council  or  on  other  pre- 
tences. Another  means  for  controlling  the  haughty 
feudal  lord,  and  indeed  a  step  toward  abolishing  their 
power,  was  to  divide  the  kingdom  into  sixty-five  de- 
partments, whose  governors  were  nearly  all  creatures 
of  the  king.  The  population  of  certain  districts  was 
moved  in  part  to  other  districts,  or  made  to  receive 
inwanderers,  both  operations  tending  to  give  the  king 
greater  control.  Instances  of  such  master-strokes  of 
policy  as  are  related  in  aboriginal  records  serve  to 
show  the  power  of  the  monarch  and  the  advanced 
system  of  government. 

In  Mexico  the  people  had  had  access  in  a  great 
measure  to  military,  civil,  and  court  offices,  but  with 
the  enthronement  of  Montezuma  II.  the  nobles  man- 
aged to  obtain  exclusive  access  to  nearly  all  dignities. 
This  reform  naturally  served  to  alienate  the  people 
and  to  aid  in  the  downfall  of  the  empire. 

The  list  of  royal  officials  is  imposing  in  its  length, 
and  is  vouched  for  not  only  by  the  minute  account  of 
the  titles  and  duties  of  the  dignitaries,  but  by  the 
many  incidental  allusions  to  them  and  their  acts  in 
the  native  records  of  events.  The  list  embraces  offices 
corresponding  to  minister  of  war,  who  was  also  com- 
mander-in-chief, minister  of  finance,  grand  master  of 
ceremonies,  grand  chamberlain,  superintendent  of  .arts, 
etc.  There  were  also  military  orders,  corresponding 
to  the  knights  of  mediaeval  Europe,  while  the  church 
had  its  gradations  of  priests,  guardians,  deacons,  friars, 
nuns,  and  probationers. 

Several  tribunals  existed,  each  with  a  number  of 
appointed  judges  and  a  staff  of  officials;  and  aj^pcals 
could  be  carried  from  one  to  the  other,  and  finally  to 


JUDICIARY  AND  LAND  TENURE.  33 

the  supreme  judge,  who  was  without  a  colleague.  In 
the  wards  were  elected  magistrates,  who  judged  minor 
cases  in  the  first  instance,  and  an  inferior  class  of 
justices,  assisted  by  bailiffs  and  constables.  Some 
courts  had  jurisdiction  over  matters  relating  only  to 
taxes  and  their  collectors,  others  over  industries  and 
arts.  Cases  were  conducted  with  the  aid  not  alone  of 
verbal  testimony  under  oath,  but  of  paintings,  repre- 
senting documents;  and  names,  evidence,  and  decisions 
were  recorded  by  clerks.  Whether  advocates  were 
employed  is  not  clear,  but  the  judges  were  skilled  in 
cross-examination,  and  many  a  perjury  was  proved, 
followed  by  the  penalty  of  death.  Suits  w^ere  limited 
to  eighty  days.  Bribery  was  strictly  forbidden.  The 
judges  were  selected  from  the  higher  class,  the  superior 
from  relatives  of  the  kings,  and  held  office  for  life, 
sustained  by  ample  revenues.  Adultery  and  similar 
crimes  were  severely  punished. 

Land  was  divided  in  different  proportions,  the 
largest  owned  by  king  and  nobles,  and  the  remainder 
by  the  temples  and  communities  of  the  people.  All 
such  property  was  duly  surveyed,  and  each  estate 
accurately  marked  on  maps  or  paintings,  kept  on  file 
by  district  officials.  Each  class  of  landed  estate  had 
then  its  distinctive  color  and  name,  and  from  each 
owner  or  tenant  was  exacted  tribute  in  product  or 
service,  regular  or  occasional.  Portions  of  the  crown 
land  were  granted  to  usufructuaries  and  their  heirs 
for  service  rendered  and  to  be  rendered.  In  con- 
quered provinces  a  certain  territory  was  set  aside  for 
the  conqueror  and  cultivated  by  the  people  for  his 
benefit.  The  estates  of  the  nobles  were,  many  of 
them,  of  ancient  origin,  and  often  entailed,  which  fact 
establishes  to  a  certain  extent  the  private  ownership 
of  land.  These  feudatories  paid  no  rent,  but  were 
bound  to  render  service  to  the  crown  with  person, 
vassals,  and  property,  when  called  upon.  The  people's 
land  belonged  to  the  wards  of  the  tow^ns  or  villages, 
with  perpetual  and   inalienable   tenure.     Individual 

Essays  akd  Miscellany.    3 


M  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

members  of  the  ward  were  on  demand  assigned  por- 
tions for  use,  and  could  even  transmit  the  control 
thereof  to  heirs,  but  not  sell.  Certain  conditions 
nmst  be  observed  for  the  tenure  of  such  lands,  and 
the  observance  was  watched  over  by  a  council  of 
elders  or  its  agents. 

There  is  much  in  this  to  confirm  the  resemblances 
to  the  feudal  system  of  Euroj^e  already  noticed.  The 
exactness  of  the  information  on  land  tenure  is  con- 
firmed by  investigations  instituted  under  auspices  of 
the  Spanish  government  with  a  view  to  respect  the 
rights  of  the  natives,  so  far  as  the  claims  of  con- 
querors and  settlers  permitted.  Cortds  obtained  from 
the  native  archives  and  officials  copies  of  the  estate 
maps,  and  tax  lists,  by  which  he  was  guided  in  his 
distribution  of  land  and  collection  of  tribute. 

In  the  department  of  the  minister  of  finance,  and 
in  the  oflfices  of  the  numerous  tax  collectors,  were  kept 
hieroglyphic  lists  of  the  districts,  towns,  and  estates, 
designating  the  kind  and  quantity  of  tax  to  be  paid 
by  each,  in  product  or  service.  A  copy  of  such  a  list 
is  given  by  Lorenzana,  and  others  are  reproduced  in 
the  Codex  Mendoza,  and  other  collections.  Certain 
cities  had  to  supply  the  palaces  with  laborers  and  ser- 
vants, food  and  furniture,  fabrics  and  other  material; 
others  paid  their  service  and  products  regularly  to 
the  finance  department,  or  when  called  upon.  Manu- 
facturers and  merchants  paid  in  the  kind  they  pos- 
sessed, and  artisans  often  in  labor.  The  tenants  of 
nobles  tilled  land  for  their  own  benefit,  and  paid 
rent  in  a  certain  amount  of  labor  for  the  landlord, 
and  in  military  service  when  called  upon;  besides 
this,  they  paid  tribute  in  kind  to  the  crown,  the  pro- 
duce being  stored  away  in  magazines  in  the  nearest 
towns. 

There  were  nearly  four  hundred  tributary  towns 
in  the  Mexican  empire,  some  paying  taxes  several 
times  a  month,  others  less  often,  and  still  others  only 
once  a  year,  the  amount  being  in  many  instances  over 


COMMERCE  AND  SOCIETY.  3& 

a  third  of  everything  produced.  Custom-houses  also 
existed  for  exacting  duties. 

In  the  capitals  of  the  provinces  resided  chief  treas- 
urers, each  with  a  corps  of  collectors,  who  not  only  en- 
forced the  payment  of  taxes  but  watched  that  lands 
were  kept  under  cultivation  and  industries  generally 
maintained. 

To  illustrate  the  extent  to  which  organization  en- 
tered into  the  affairs  of  life,  we  can  point  to  the  mer- 
chants, with  their  guilds,  apprenticeship,  caravans, 
markets,  fairs,  agencies,  and  factories  in  distant  re- 
gions. Tlatelulco  was  renowned  for  her  trade  and 
vast  market,  and  her  merchants  really  formed  a 
commercial  corporation  controlling  the  trade  of  the 
country.  Sahagun's  records  sketch  the  development 
of  this  company.  Maps  guided  them  in  their  journeys, 
tribunals  of  their  own  regulated  affairs,  and  different 
articles  were  accepted  as  a  medium  for  exchange,  in- 
cluding copper  and  tin  pieces,  and  gold-dust.  The 
market  at  Tlatelulco,  in  the  vast  extent  of  booths, 
and  of  articles  for  sale,  and  in  its  regulations,  was  a 
source  of  wonder  to  the  Spaniards.  Couriers  and 
inns  existed  to  aid  travel  and  intercourse;  also  roads, 
well  kept  and  often  paved,  such  as  late  exploration 
in  Yucatan  shows  to  have  connected  distant  cities. 
In  navigation  the  Mexicans  were  less  advanced 

One  lawful  wife  was  married  with  special  ceremo- 
nies, and  her  children  were  the  only  legitimate  issue. 
Three  additional  classes  of  mates  were  admissible: 
those  bound  to  the  man  with  less  solemn  ceremonies, 
and  bearing  the  title  of  wife,  like  the  legitimate  one, 
yet  deprived  of  inheritance  or  nearly  so,  together  with 
their  children;  those  bound  with  no  ceremonies,  and 
ranking  merely  as  concubines;  and  those  w^io  co- 
habited with  unmarried  men,  and  who  might  be 
married  by  their  lovers  or  by  other  men.  These  two 
classes  of  concubines  were  not  entitled  to  the  respect 
accorded  to  the  first-named,  yet  no  dishonor  attached 
to  their  condition.    Public  prostitutes  were  tolerated 


86  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

as  a  necessary  evil.  This  is  a  social  condition  which 
needs  not  for  its  justification  to  seek  a  parallel  among 
other  nations  recognized  as  civilized,  nor  among  the 
European  princes  who  publicly  maintained  the  same 
classes  of  consorts  and  mistresses. 

Schools  existed  in  connection  with  the  temple,  under 
control  of  the  priests,  and  in  Mexico  every  quarter  had 
its  school  for  the  common  people,  after  the  manner 
of  our  public  schools.  Higher  schools  or  colleges 
existed  for  sons  of  nobles  and  those  destined  for  the 
priesthood,  wherein  were  taught  history,  religion, 
philosophy,  law,  astronomy,  writing,  and  interpreting 
hieroglyphics,  singing,  dancing,  use  of  arms,  gymnas- 
tics, and  many  arts  and  sciences.  A  result  of  this 
high  training  may  be  found  in  the  many  botanical 
and  zoological  collections  in  the  countrj',  and  the  pro- 
motion of  art  in  sculpture,  weaving,  feather  orna- 
ments, and  jewelry,  by  the  nobles  and  the  wealthy. 

Picture-writing  is  practised  to  a  certain  extent  by 
all  savages,  both  in  representative  and  symbolic  form, 
but  it  is  only  by  studying  the  art,  or  following  its 
development  to  a  higher  grade,  that  it  acquires  per- 
manent value,  or  can  be  made  the  means  to  gain  for 
its  possessors  the  culture  stamp  of  keeping  records, 
and  records  were  kept  by  the  Nahuas.  They  had  ad- 
vanced to  some  extent  even  in  the  phonetic  form  of 
picture-writing,  but  had  not  reached  the  alphabetic 
grade.  Any  codex  will  show  in  abundance  the  repre- 
sentative and  symbolic  signs,  and  some  that  are  pho- 
netic. In  religious  and  astrologic  documents  the  signs 
vary  so  greatly  that  the  theory  has  been  strongly 
asserted  that  the  priests  used  a  partially  distinct 
symbolic  system  for  certain  records.  When  studying 
church  fonns  under  the  missionaries  the  natives  used 
phonetic  signs  to  aid  their  memory  in  remembering 
abstract  words,  a  method  also  recognized  in  the  pre- 
served paintings  for  designation  of  names.  The  sys- 
tem is  apparently  of  native  origin.  The  Maya  writing 
is  still  more  phonetic  in  its  character. 


HISTORY  AND  ASTRONOMY.  37 

The  Nahua  records,  in  hieroglyphic  characters,  in- 
clude traditional  and  historical  annals,  with  names  and 
genealogic  tables  of  kings  and  nobles,  lists  and  tribute 
rolls  of  provinces  and  towns,  land  titles,  law  codes, 
court  records,  calendar,  religious  rules  and  rites,  edu-. 
cational  and  mechanical  processes,  etc.  The  hiero- 
glyphic system  was  known  in  its  ordinary  application 
to  the  educated  classes,  while  the  priests  alone  under- 
stood it  fully.  The  characters  were  painted  in  bright 
colors,  on  long  strips  of  paper,  cloth,  or  parchment,  or 
carved  in  stone.  Original  specimens  on  stone  and 
paper  or  skin  exist  to  prove  the  efficiency  of  the  sys- 
tem for  all  ordinary  requirements,  and  to  establish  for 
the  race  that  high  index  of  culture,  the  possession  of 
written  annals.  The  Spanish  authorities  for  a  long 
time  had  to  appeal  to  them  to  settle  land  and  other 
suits,  and  to  fix  taxes,  etc.  The  several  codices  in 
European  libraries  and  museums,  with  their  early  and 
recent  interpretation,  have  added  much  valuable  ma- 
terial to  ancient  history;  Ixtlilxochitl  and  others  built 
their  histories  mainly  on  such  paintings. 

The  Nahuas  were  well  acquainted  with  the  move- 
ments of  the  sun,  moon,  and  of  some  planets,  and 
observed  and  recorded  eclipses,  though  not  attributing 
them  to  natural  causes.  Their  calendar  divided  time 
into  ages  of  two  cycles,  each  cycle  consisting  of  four 
periods  of  thirteen  years,  the  years  of  each  cycle  being 
distinctly  designated  by  signs  and  names  with  num- 
bers, in  orderly  arrangement,  as  shown  on  their  sculpt- 
ured stones.  The  civil  year  was  divided  into  eighteen 
months  of  twenty  days,  with  five  extra  days  to  com- 
plete the  year;  and  each  month  into  four  sections 
or  weeks.  Extra  days  were  also  added  at  the  end  of 
the  cycle,  so  that  our  calculations  are  closely  ap- 
proached. The  day  was  divided  into  fixed  periods 
corresponding  to  hours.  All  the  above  divisions  had 
their  signs  and  names.  The  ritual  calendar  was  lunar, 
with  twenty  weeks  of  thirteen  days  for  the  year,  all 
differing  in  their  enumeration,  though  the  names  of 


38  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

the  days  were  the  same  as  in  the  solar  calendar.  The 
system  of  numeration  was  simple  and  comprehensive, 
without  limit  to  the  numbers  that  could  be  expressed ; 
and  so  were  the  signs  for  them.  It  was  essentially 
decimal. 

These  are  some  few  instances  of  Nahua  culture 
which  might  easily  be  extended  to  -fill  a  volume  after 
all  exaggeration  has  been  thrown  out;  and  all  this, 
be  it  remembered,  was  the  condition  of  things  four 
hundred  3'ears  ago.  Compare  it  with  the  European 
civilization  or  semi-civilization  of  that  day  on  the  one 
hand,  and  with  the  savagisra  of  the  Iroquois  and 
Ojibways  on  the  other,  and  then  judge  which  of  the 
two  it  most  resembled. 


It  is  with  regret  that  I  find  myself  obliged  to  speak  of  two  rc\riew8  of  the 
first  volume  of  my  JIUtory  of  the  Pacific  States.  They  were  so  different  iu 
tone  and  temper  from  two  hundred  others  appearing  about  the  same  time,  as 
to  excite  in  the  mind  of  an  ordinary  observer  suspicion  of  a  hidden  motive. 
I  think  I  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  showing  what  tliat  motive  was;  iu  which 
case  it  will  not  leave  either  the  reviewers,  or  the  editors  admitting  to  their 
columns  such  articles,  in  a  very  favorable  light  among  fair-minded  men. 

I  first  heard  of  Lewis  H.  Morgan  as  a  person  going  about  from  one  re- 
viewer to  another  begging  condemnation  for  my  Native  Races.  His  object 
I  could  not  imagine.  Some  time  afterward  one  of  these  reviewers,  whose 
letter  I  still  have,  wrote  me  regretting  the  circumstance,  for  though  a  fol- 
lower of  Morgan  he  was  an  honorable  man,  and  gave  my  book  conscientious 
treatment.  Later  I  learned  that  Morgan  was  angry  Ixscause  I  omitted  his 
lx>ok  from  my  list  of  authorities,  and  did  not  subscribe  to  his  doctrine.  The 
book  was  not  in  my  possession  at  tlie  time,  and  I  l:ad  never  heard  of  his 
theory.  I  regarded  the  matter  as  of  little  moment,  and  soon  it  dropped 
from  my  mind.  I  certainly  entertained  no  feeling  for  or  against  Mr  Morgan ; 
and  as  for  his  theorj',  when  making  a  summary  of  forty  or  fifty  others,  none 
of  which  I  was  prepared  fully  to  accept,  and  desiring  the  catalogue  to  l^e  as 
complete  as  possible,  I  would  hardly  have  left  out  his  because  of  my  inability 
to  believe  it  all.  This  is  yet  more  apparent  in  view  of  the  fact  that  I  have  no 
conflicting  theory  of  my  ovra,  that  I  object  to  no  one's  fancies,  and  that  I 
regard  the  Morgan  hypothesis  as  exceedingly  innocent,  except  where  it  at- 
tempts the  overthrow  of  material  truths.  I  cannot  entertain  a  )>elicf  in 
opposition  to  the  testimony  of  my  senses ;  I  cannot  support  an  unprovable 
proposition  as  against  a  provable  one.  Nor  did  I  take  exceptions  to  Morgan  a 
notice  of  the  Xaiixt  Races  in  the  North  American  Revieu:  It  was  open ;  the 
portions  objected  to  were  arrayed  and  com1>ated,  and  the  other  portions  were 
not  generally  slurred.    He  did  not  attack  the  author  in  a  sweeping  way, 


SCIENCE-FANATICS.  89 

while  attempting  to  bring  him  into  disrepute  by  artfully  covering  the  real 
cause  of  his  antagonism.  In  this  respect  he  was  a  better  man  tlian  some  of 
his  successors. 

The  years  passed  by  with  but  little  thought  on  my  part  upon  these  things 
Occasionally  one  of  my  assistants  would  call  attention  to  a  work  by  one  of 
the  Morgan  school,  in  which  traces  of  a  free  use  of  the  Native  Races  were 
plainly  visible  without  a  word  of  credit.  To  such  slights,  however,  I  am  not 
at  all  sensitive.  It  is  the  jjrimary  object  of  all  my  eflForts  that  they  may  be 
of  use  to  the  world.  The  matter  of  credit  is  an  exceedingly  small  one,  to  be 
left  to  the  taste  and  sense  of  justice  of  the  person  using  it.  For  myself  I 
prefer  to  cite  my  sources  of  information  fully,  as  my  pages  show.  I  certainly 
never  obtained  any  information  or  ideas  from  the  men  of  Morgan  that  I  did 
not  give  them  credit  for.  In  the  present  instance  we  survived  the  heavy 
blow,  and  were  glad  if  the  shade  of  the  great  chief  could  be  thus  appeased. 

For  meanwhile  Morgan  had  departed  to  his  happy  hunting-ground,  and  in 
his  place  had  arisen  a  school  of  followers,  among  whom,  as  is  usual  in  such 
cases,  there  were  fanatics  seven  times  more  the  children  of  darkness  than  had 
been  the  master.  The  more  radical  of  these  seized  upon  the  weird  fancies 
that  sometime  floated  through  the  brain  of  their  dead  chief  and  wove  them 
into  what  they  regarded  as  tangible  realities,  while  others  accepted  Morgan's 
hypotheses  only  in  part.  Happy  indeed  must  have  been  that  great  soul  which- 
from  its  celestial  wilderness  beheld  the  cloud  of  dust  that  it  had  raised !  The 
speculations  contained  in  his  works  now  to  some  became  words  of  inspiration, 
and  the  writer  himself  the  founder  of  a  new  faith.  There  was  to  be  a  new 
departure  in  science,  literature,  and  art ;  learning  was  to  be  revolutionized ; 
and  the  originator  of  the  new  doctrine,  which  was  a  true  revelation  from 
heaven,  was  to  be  deified.  All  who  accepted  his  words  were  to  be  received 
in  due  time  into  the  happy  hunting-ground ;  all  who  did  not  were  anathema 
maranatha. 

We  must  not  wonder  too  greatly  at  the  occasional  foolishness  of  wise  men. 
There  are  those  high  in  position,  able  and  learned  in  some  directions,  who  are 
shallow-pated  enough  in  others.  It  is  not  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of 
things  to  find  among  Morgan's  disciples  some  learned  and  able  men.  How- 
ever we  may  wonder  at  it,  the  proposition  is  none  the  less  true,  that  there 
never  has  been  set  on  foot  a  doctrine  so  illogical  or  a  dogma  so  absurd  as  not 
to  filnd  adherents  and  champions  among  the  so-called  wise  of  this  world. 
There  is  no  question  that  to-day,  as  at  any  time  since  men  were  made,  there 
cannot  be  concocted  a  system  of  theology  so  extravagant  but  that  supporters 
may  be  found  for  it  among  the  studious.  It  has  always  been  so,  and  judging 
from  present  appearances  it  will  always  be  so.  It  is  not  necessary  to  cite 
examples;  history  is  full  of  them.  The  very  fact  that  the  proposition  is 
unreasonable  prompts  some  to  lay  aside  their  reason.  The  more  acute  and 
powerful  the  mind,  the  more  studious  it  may  become  over  unprovable  hy- 
potheses, and  the  more  forced  to  resort  to  strange  conceits  and  wild  delusions. 
Take  the  sages  of  antiquity  and  tell  me  what  the  opinions  entertained  by 
them  upon  the  origin  of  things  and  the  future  state  of  man  are  worth  to 
the  world  to-day.  Peradventure  some  of  the  followei's  of  Morgan  may  be  so 
fortunate  as  to  be  classed  a  thousand  years  hence  among  the  sages  of  antiquity. 


40  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

Without  referring  to  the  close  students  of  alchemy  or  astrology  for  examples, 
or  stopping  to  consider  the  eflfect  of  the  application  of  brain  power  to  tradi- 
tional formulas,  wc  liave  only  to  notice  the  totally  opposite  views  taken  oa 
every  problem  of  life  and  death  by  the  foremost  intellects  of  the  age  to  be 
aware  that  it  is  possible  for  the  modem  scholar  to  entertain  views  favorable  to 
the  subordination  of  sense  to  aboriginal  consanguinities.  Nor  is  the  success  of 
»  new  delusion  according  to  the  measure  of  its  subtilities,  or  governed  by  the 
plausibility  of  its  hypotheses;  it  will  be  believed  Recording  to  the  force  with 
which  it  is  proclaimed.  The  nature  of  the  scheme  presented  and  the  power 
of  discrimination  on  the  part  of  the  recipient  have  less  to  do  with  its  promul- 
gation than  the  teacher's  strength  of  brain  and  Ixxly.  This  accounts  for  our 
finding  among  the  followers  of  Morgan  some  intelligent  and  able  men,  some 
who  occupy  conspicuous  positions,  and  are  looked  up  to  as  models  of  refined 
human  intelligence.  The  very  strength  and  elasticity  of  the  mind  accepting 
fancy  as  a  substitute  for  fact  often  plunge  the  possessor  farther  and  farther 
into  the  mazes  of  infatuation.  It  is  not  always  proof  of  a  proposition  tliat 
an  able  mind  entertains  it.  The  savage  can  see  as  far  into  a  granite  bowlder 
as  the  sage. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  for  several  years  I  rested  under  the  wrath  of 
Morgan's  men  without  knowing  it.  At  length  the  first  volume  of  my  Hintory 
was  published.  This  was  the  hour  of  sweet  revenge !  It  had  not  been  unlooked 
for,  nor  were  the  holy  brotherhood  unprepared.  Allusion  in  a  bibliographi- 
cal note  to  the  folly  of  throwing  to  the  winds  testimony  as  good  as  that  upon 
which  rests  the  history  of  any  nation,  was  sufficient  to  rouse  the  refined  demon 
of  the  new  dispensation.  "This  book  must  be  put  down,  the  author  annihi- 
lated: we  have  praised  him  hitherto;  now  we  will  sapiently  sit  upon  him. 
For  if  his  work  be  permitted  to  stand,  ours  must  fall ;  if  his  chronicles  are 
to  remain  as  recognized  foundations  of  American  history,  then  our  beloved 
dogma  must  be  buried."  He  who  formerly  was  a  man  of  independent  thought 
and  action,  a  patient  laborer  in  a  praiseworthy  field,  winning  the  approl)ation 
of  eastern  and  European  scholars,  is  now  an  upstart,  a  presumptuous  fellow, 
unworthy  to  touch  the  sacred  garments  of  this  guild.  His  fonnerly  intelli- 
gent and  able  assistants  are  now  sneered  at  and  ridiculed ;  the  very  nchness 
of  his  materials,  the  liandling  of  which  elicited  wonder,  is  now  transfonned 
into  a  great  gulf  which  in  due  time  is  to  swallow  this  huge  Califomian  under- 
taking. Of  this  concerted  and  predetermined  course  of  action,  in  effect,  I 
was  credibly  informed. 

For  their  first  shot  the  columns  of  the  New  York  Imlependfiit  were  used. 
The  attack  was  so  vehement,  however,  as  to  defeat  its  own  purpose.  It  was 
clearly  apparent  that  fairly  to  point  out  the  merits  and  demerits  of  the  work 
was  not  the  writer's  purpose,  but  on  the  contrary  to  hide  all  that  was  good, 
distort  the  truth,  and  magnify  trivial  matters  so  that  they  should  appear 
great  faults ;  and  to  the  thoughtful  rea<ler  the  wonder  was  if  eitlier  the  writer 
of  the  article  or  the  editor  of  the  journal  ever  ha^l  been  taught  to  distinguish 
right  and  WTong  or  carried  a  conscience.  Wliat  an  egregious  blunder  the 
leading  journals  of  New  York  and  Ikwton,  of  Chicago,  iSt  Louis,  Cincinnati, 
and  San  Francisco,  to  say  nothing  of  those  of  Europe — what  a  blunder  they 
had  made  in  reviewing  this  volume  to  speak  well  of  it !    I  do  not  suppose  the 


MENDACIOUS  JOURNALISM.  41 

editor  of  the  Independent  wishes  to  plead  ignorance  for  admitting  sweeping 
and  untruthful  denunciation  and  attempting  to  pass  it  ofif  on  his  readers  as 
fair  criticism,  which  would  be  equivalent  to  an  acknowledgment  on  his  part 
of  his  unfitness  for  the  position,  or  that  he  would  admit  himself  to  be  capable 
of  wilful  misrepresentation  in  printing  what  he  knew  to  be  false,  which  course 
would  be  to  place  himself  outside  the  categoiy  of  good  men ;  yet  one  or  the 
other  of  these  positions  he  is  bound  to  take. 

I  do  not  propose  to  follow  this  reviewer  and  notice  his  misstatements ;  the 
article  cannot  be  placed  in  the  category  of  reputable  criticism.  It  was  simply 
mud-throwing.  I  will  point  out  a  few  features  of  it,  however,  that  we  may 
see  how  tlie  thing  is  done.  "  It  was  a  very  difficult  book  to  review,"  the 
editor  remarked  afterward,  "a  very  difficult  book.  There  were  but  few  who 
would  undertake  it."  So  it  would  seem;  and  the  one  who  did  undertake  it 
was  not  long  in  showing  his  ignorance  of  the  subject.  First,  no  criticism  was 
attempted  of  the  history  proper ;  not  a  word  was  said  about  it  in  the  whole 
five  columns  of  disparagement.  One  half  of  the  article  was  devoted  to  a 
general  tirade  against  the  book,  and  personal  abuse  of  the  author ;  the  other 
half  was  given  to  astute  hair-splitting  over  a  summary  of  voyages,  printed  in 
fine  type,  not  directly  connected  with  the  subject  of  the  volume,  and  wherein 
the  author  expressly  disavows  the  intention  to  make  it  exhaustive.  Here  in 
some  cases  the  reviewer  was  right  but  not  original,  for  he  always  artfully 
concealed  the  fact  that  the  note  was  not  oflFered  as  an  exhaustive  treatise  on 
American  geography,  but  simply  as  a  r6sum6  from  a  dozen  well  known  author- 
ities named.  While  endeavoring  to  convey  the  idea  of  gross  inaccuracy,  he 
failed  to  show  that  I  did  not  do  accurately  everything  that  I  attempted. 

There  is  nothing  which  so  enrages  an  erudite  dogmatist  as  to  meet  an 
opinion  positively  expressed  in  direct  opposition  to  his  own  positive  opinion. 
And  the  more  extravagant  the  doctrine,  the  more  enraged  is  the  biassed  mind 
over  it.  It  is  not  simply  the  real  and  tangible  that  men  most  dispute,  but  the 
hypothetical  and  unknowable.  It  requires  no  discussion  to  prove  the  presence 
of  tlie  palpable,  but  for  the  impalpable  men  will  lay  down  their  lives.  Pure, 
unreasoning,  and  unreasonable  fantasy  has  set  on  foot  most  of  the  battles  of 
the  world.     Men  fight  over  fancies,  not  facts. 

Another  article  of  similar  import  appeared  in  the  New  York  Post  and 
Nation.  Recognizing  the  excess  of  zeal  on  the  part  of  the  Independent  re- 
viewer, the  Post  article  between  its  spasms  of  spleen  threw  in  clauses  of 
praise.  I  would  advise  the  Morgan  men  to  exercise  care  in  their  commenda- 
tions, else  every  evil  charge  they  make  will  be  contradicted  by  one  member 
or  another  of  the  guild,  and  thus  their  united  effiirts  fall  to  the  ground.  An 
air  of  moderation  is  here  assumed,  but  only  that  the  book  may  be  damaged 
the  more.  A  number  of  the  Morgan  men  are  mentioned  by  name  as  martyrs 
to  science,  victims  of  my  crushing  silence.  The  ignorance  of  the  reviewer  in 
regard  to  Pacific  coast  history,  of  which  he  pretends  to  know  so  much  more 
than  one  who  has  made  it  the  special  study  of  a  lifetime,  is  nowhere  more 
clearly  shown  than  when  complaining  of  the  omission  from  my  list  of  au- 
thorities of  certain  of  the  men  of  Morgan.  The  works  of  two  of  the  writers 
named  appeared  among  the  authorities  for  the  Native  llaces;  one  was  omitted 
as  already  expluined ;  the  rest  wrote  on  ethnological  and  antiquarian  topics, 


42  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS.     • 

after  the  list  was  printed,  and  I  may  be  excused  for  not  foreseeing  their 
investigations.  Of  course  they  do  not  appear  in  the  list  for  the  History  of 
Central  America,  for  the  good  reason  tliat  not  one  of  them  so  far  as  I  know 
has  wiittcn  a  word  on  the  subject !  The  article  closes  with  a  few  flat  denials 
of  any  Aztec  or  Maya  culture,  the  common  argument  of  the  schuoL 

A  fit  sequel  to  the  Po^st  article  was  the  admission  into  its  columns,  of  cer- 
tain statements  by  an  irresponsible  and  unprincipled  person,  who  with  a  view 
of  extorting  money  6r  obtaining  notoriety,  concocted  a  series  of  falsehoods, 
intermingled  with  facts  so  warped  as  to  make  them  appear  to  my  disadvan- 
tage, all  which  if  true  would  amount  to  nothing.  It  was  my  method  of  writ- 
ing history  that  troubled  him,  poor  fellow,  and  he  thought  my  assistants  were 
imposed  upon.  But  after  all  he  was  but  an  auxiliary  of  the  Pout,  and  with 
such  a  person  I  have  no  issue.  There  are  always  at  hand  those  who  for  money 
or  notoriety  will  not  hesitate  to  concoct  lies,  and  labor  with  others  to  moke 
them  appear  plausible,  as  this  person  has  done.  If  my  work  or  my  re])uta- 
tion  rested  on  a  sandy  foundation,  if  I  feared  him  in  the  least,  or  the  J'ost, 
or  the  men  of  Morgan,  perhaps  I  should  have  paid  him  his  price  and  stopped 
his  bark.  As  it  was  I  desired  the  matter  should  go  on;  I  preferred  to  know 
what  they  were  trying  to  do,  what  they  expected  to  gain  by  it  all,  and  if 
indeed  by  such  means  I  and  my  work  could  be  brought  to  grief. 

Charges  like  these,  and  emanating  from  sucli  a  source,  were  as  I  said  a  fit 
sequel  to  the  first  attack,  and  very  properly  admitted  into  his  columns  by  the 
editor.  "First  we  will  condemn  the  book,  and  then  annihilate  the  author; 
so  that  there  shall  be  none  in  all  the  earth  to  stand  before  the  men  of  I^Iorgan. " 
A  prominent  New  York  publisher  denied  the  statements  for  me  as  palpably 
false ;  but  he  need  not  have  taken  the  trouble.  There  was  not  a  subscriber 
of  ordinary  intelligence  but  saw  through  the  editor's  artifice  by  this  time. 
He  had  admitted  from  one  of  the  men  of  Morgan  a  defamatory  article,  and 
now  a  few  more  stalwart  strokes  and  the  western  coast  of  North  America 
would  be  overturned  into  the  sea.  It  only  lacked  some  such  effusions  aa 
these  from  this  most  worthy  coadjutor  to  show  the  real  purpose  of  the  paper 
in  admitting  the  review.  But  for  this  proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  editor 
there  might  have  been  some  who  really  would  have  thought  that  the  reviewer 
liad  intended  to  bo  sincere  regarding  his  very  intelligent  and  learned  remarks 
about  the  book.  I  will  admit  that  the  ethics  which  obtain  in  such  cases,  par- 
ticularly the  PoaCs  morality,  are  beyond  me;  but  I  will  say  that  in  commercial 
matters,  a  man  who  showed  such  an  utter  disregard  for  truth  and  fair  couduct 
as  did  the  editor  of  the  Post  in  this  case,  would  be  ruletl  out  of  any  respectable 
society  of  merchants.  The  responsibility  cannot  be  thrown  upon  the  accom- 
plice nnder  cover  of  communications.  It  was  the  admission  of  the  false  state- 
ments into  the  columns  of  the  journal  that  did  the  injury,  and  not  the  writing 
of  them.  And  this  editor  knew  them  in  the  main  to  be  false ;  or  if  he  had  en- 
tertained doubts,  he  might  easily  have  ascertained  the  truth;  but  from  the 
course  of  procec<lings  it  seems  evident  that  truth  was  exactly  what  he  did 
not  want.  During  a  business  career  lasting  from  lx)yhoo<l  I  have  l>ecn  well 
known  both  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  at  the  east,  and  neither  my  life  nor 
my  acts  liavc  been  hidden  or  secret.  My  Library  and  its  details  have  always 
been  open  to  the  public,  and  my  system  has  been  a  thousand  times  ex-. 


MY  METHOD  OF  ^VRITIXG  HISTORY.  43 

plained,  verbally  and  in  the  newspapers  and  magazines ;  and  before  publish- 
ing a  volume  I  personally  visited  the  leading  literary  men  at  the  east,  laid 
before  them  the  scheme  with  my  plan  for  its  accomplishment,  and  received 
their  warm  commendations,  ample  proof  of  which  I  can  produce  both  from 
the  persons  themselves,  and  from  their  letters  in  my  possession. 

}  My  historical  undertakings  are  such  as  in  all  civilized  and  half-civilized 
societies  are  deemed  important.  For  this  western  coast  if  the  work  was  ever 
to  be  fully  done  it  must  be  done  at  once,  as  much  valuable  knowledge  was  daily 
dropping  out  of  existence,  and  there  was  no  government  or  society  At  hand 
ready  to  save  it.  Nor  would  gathering  alone  satisfy  me.  It  seemed  evident 
that  unless  I  went  on  and  placed  the  large  unwieldy  mass  in  form  available 
to  the  world,  it  would  be  long  before  any  one  else  would  do  so.  O 

Whoever  or  whatever  the  author  may  be,  there  are  points  about  the  work 
which  truth  cannot  gainsay.  Among  these  are  diligence  in  collecting  ma- 
terial, and  great  thoroughness  in  correctly  bringing  out  all  the  facts  and 
arranging  them  in  natural  sequence.  That  this  is  true,  and  that  vast  stores 
of  information  would  but  for  me  have  been  lost,  and  that  no  such  work  has 
been  done  for  other  nations,  can  be  made  clear  to  any  ordinary  mind.  And 
this  as  I  regard  it,  is  nine  tenths  of  history.  Style,  ways  of  working,  the  use 
of  big  words  or  little  words,  and  like  matters  of  comparatively  minor  moment 
may  always  be  distorted  into  material  for  ridicule ;  though  in  my  own  case 
even  here,  where  one  man  has  spoken  evil,  fifty,  ay  a  hundred,  each  as  capable 
of  judging  truly  as  are  my  learned  friends  of  the  Post,  have  expressed  approval. 

■;.  My  plan  of  historical  labor  is  my  own,  and  grew  out  of  the  necessities  of 
the  case;  the  collection  was  made  and  the  work  begun  and  carried  on  by 
myself  alone,  without  government  or  other  aid,  or  any  thought  of  it.  \  The 
importance  of  the  work  itself  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  too  highly;  and 
that  I  ask  or  desire  from  the  public  any  consideration  for  myself  further  than 
I  deserve  is  so  preposterous,  the  idea  of  it  so  repugnant  to  my  nature,  so 
inconsistent  with  a  life  of  retirement  and  self-sacrifice,  that  I  should  have 
paid  no  attention  to  these  slanders  had  they  not  come  frojn  so-called  respect- 
able sources.  \The  proposition  was  simply  this :  In  order  to  accomplish  within 
a  lifetime  the  labor  for  one  man  of  two  hundred  years  assistants  must  be 
employed.  My  work  is  not  of  that  quality  that  one  man  could  do  it  in  forty 
or  fifty  years.  I  could  do  much,  but  not  all.'N  Every  one  knows  that  it  is 
more  difficult  to  do  work  by  the  hand  of  another  than  by  one's  own  hand. 
My  assistants  are  my  friends,  my  pride,  and  I  ngver  was  capable  of  depreci- 
ating their  merits  in  order  to  exalt  my  own.4^My  work  is  peculiar.  It  is 
drawn  almost  wholly  from  raw  material,  not  such  as  has  before  been  worked 
over  twenty  times  as  was  the  material  used  by  writers  like  Hume,  Gibbon, 
and  Macaulay,  and  it  cannot  justly  be  made  subject  to  the  same  standard  of 
criticism.Jj  The  attempt  to  make  finished  and  standard  history,  upon  an  ex- 
tensive SCT-Ie,  out  of  crude,  unworked  material,  is  something  new,  and  the 
effort  might  at  least  be  regarded  with  common  charity.  Nevertheless,  the 
actual  defects  pointed  out  by  my  assailants  were  few  and  insignificant.  "If 
that  is  all  the  fault  they  can  find,"  said  one  of  my  assistants,  "it  must  be 
regarded  as  a  great  compliment."  It  is  the  propensity  to  inflict  injury  under 
false  pretences  alone  that  I  deplore. 


44  THE  EARLY  AMERICAN  CHRONICLERS. 

( "*My  assistants  are  occupied  for  the  most  part  in  abstracting  and  preparing 
material.  After  long  exijerience  some  of  thcni  are  able  to  furnish  me  manu- 
script in  a  more  or  less  advanced  state,  and  of  their  highest  servioes  1  gladly 
avail  myself.  I  The  burden  of  the  work,  liowever,  falls  on  me  where  it  rightly 
belongs.  For  the  past  fourteen  years  I  have  devoted  on  an  average  more 
than  eight  hours  a  day  to  my  literary  work,  and  at  least  one  half  of  the 
manuscript  has  been  written  by  my  own  hand,  and  the  remainder  has  Ijeen 
so  rewritten  and  revised  by  me  as  to  make  it  my  own.  I  did  not  rewrite 
what  was  perfectly  satisfactory  to  me  merely  for  the  sake  of  rewriting;  I 
could  employ  my  time  to  greater  advantage.  Very  little  of  the  manu.script 
OS  it  comes  to  me,  whether  in  the  form  of  rough  material  or  more  finished 
chapters,  is  the  work  of  one  person  alone.N  If  after  collecting  tlic  material  at 
a  vast  outlay  of  time  and  money,  making  a  plan  of  the  work,  writing  all  the 
leading  parts  alone  and  unaided,  training  assistants  after  innumerable  failures 
and  discouragements  to  help  me  handle  the  immense  mass,  otherwise  wholly 
beyond  the  strength  and  control  of  one  man,  meanwhile  jmying  them  fairly 
for  their  services  as  the  work  went  on — if  after  this  I  deemed  it  my  duty  to 
account  for  every  line  or  page,  which  I  certainly  did  not,  to  whom  should  I 
credit  the  work:  to  the  indexer,  or  to  the  note-taker,  or  to  the  one  who  did 
the  arranging,  or  to  the  one  who  put  it  into  the  rough  form,  or  to  the  one  who 
rearranged  and  rewrote  some  portions  and  divided  it  into  chapters,  all  these 
several  parts  having  been  accomplished  by  dififereut  persons  at  different  times; 
or  to  myself,  who  besides  conceiving  and  carrying  forward  the  work  thus  far, 
supplementing  my  labors  by  the  help  of  others,  and  being  alone  responsible 
for  the  result,  must  now  make  it  yet  more  completely  my  own  by  careful 
study,  rewriting,  revising,  adding,  eliminating,  absolutely  the  hardest  and 
most  wearing  labor  a  literary  man  can  find  to  do — who  is  the  author  of  this 
work  I  ask?" 

*  Still  another  set  of  men  compare  every  statement,  after  it  is  in  type,  with 
the  original  authority,  while  yot  others  draw  the  maps,  prepare  the  lists  of 
authorities,  and  make  the  index.  And  of  this  I  am  sure:  call  the  method  by 
any  name  you  please,  there  is  nothing  secret,  there  is  nothing  counterfeit 
about  it.  I  should  like  to  see  those  who  sneer  at  my  efforts  produce  equiva- 
lent results  by  this  or  any  other  means.  Of  course  I  should  Vks  better 
satisfied  if  I  could  do  all  the  work  myself,  including  even  the  indexing 
and  note-taking.  It  is  what  I  do  that  I  take  pleasure  in,  and  not  what 
others  do  for  me ;  but  owing  to  the  magnitude  of  the  work,  and  having  but 
the  remnant  of  one  short  life-time  before  me,  such  a  course  was  not  pos- 
sible. It  has  ever  been  my  greatest  happiness  to  recognize  the  merits  of 
my  assistants.  Though  they  have  not  been  my  teacher  I  have  learned  from 
them  and  honor  them.  Some  of  them  have  been  my  almost  daily  associates 
during  the  entire  term  of  my  literary  efforts.  Among  them  are  my  most 
valued  and  devoted  friends,  and  it  is  not  true  that  I  have  ever  assumed 
aught  rightfully  Ixslonging  to  them.  Often  liave  they  attempted  to  restrain 
me  in  my  public  acknowledgments  of  their  merits.  I  glory  in  them,  in  what 
they  are  doing  and  can  do;  and  it  is  with  pride  that  I  can  say  tlutt  were  I  to 
die  to-morrow,  they  could  and  would  fairly  enough  finish  my  w  ork.  I  say 
there  is  no  attempted  secrecy  about  my  work  as  has  been  implied,  and  I  am 


BRUTUM  FULMEK  45 

not  conscious  of  pretending  to  be  other  than  I  am.  Results  are  more  to  me 
than  means,  but  results  are  valueless  if  the  means  are  questionable.  The 
name  of  having  performed  what  I  deem  a  most  important  task  is  of  small 
moment  to  me  as  compared  with  its  being  well  and  faithfully  done. 

But  why  continue  ?  Surely  the  evidence  is  clear  enough  that  I  and  my 
labors  are  condemned  by  these  men  for  no  other  reason  than  that  I  do  not 
support  the  Morgan  doctrine.  Else  why,  as  I  before  observed,  have  but  two 
journals  thus  far  assumed  this  tone  of  jeering  at  what  is  universally  admitted 
as  well-directed  efifort?  After  all  it  may  be  thought  that  I  should  be  satisfied 
in  coming  before  the  world  with  so  pretentious  a  work  with  receiving  but 
two  generally  unfavorable  criticisms  against  two  hundred  favorable  ones. 
But  that  is  not  the  point.  Criticism  I  do  not  object  to  if  made  in  a  spirit 
of  fairness.  Were  this  the  case  I  would  not  give  out  my  volumes  to  review. 
No  one  is  more  my  friend  than  he  who  in  good  faith  points  out  my  defects 
that  I  may  remove  them.  No  one  will  go  further  than  I  to  avoid  or  rectify 
mistakes,  and  to  follow  the  right  in  all  subjects  that  come  up  for  investi- 
gation. 

No  doubt  it  is  presumption  on  the  part  of  one  not  of  this  fold  to  attempt 
to  write  history;  and  when  the  work  undertaken  is  not  upon  the  scale  to 
which  they  arc  accustomed,  or  performed  in  the  ordinary  way,  the  author 
must  be  put  down. 

Finally,  I  would  ask :  If  these  statements  are  true,  and  I  believe  I  have  at 
hand  the  proofs  of  all  I  have  said,  would  it  not  be  well  to  receive  with  some 
degree  of  allowance  the  criticisms  printed  in  the  columns  of  such  papers  as 
have  fallen  under  the  sway  of  these  science-fanatics?  I  appeal  to  the  editors 
and  reviewers  of  the  world  to  say  if  the  quality  of  journalism  thus  dispensed 
by  the  New  York  Independent  and  the  New  York  Post  is  reputable;  I  appeal 
to  the  fair-minded  of  the  world  to  say  if  the  proceedings  of  these  reviewers 
and  editors  can  be  called  honorable.  It  is  time  this  low  cheating  and  chi- 
cancr\'  was  done  awny  with  in  criticism.  Those  who  will  make  the  review- 
ing of  ;i  boul;  u  cloak  to  cover  a  malicious  spirit  should  be  condemned  by 
all  good  men. 

I  do  not  expect  this  to  be  the  last  of  it.  The  men  of  Morgan  will  con- 
tinue their  assaults  as  occasions  oflFer,  fighting  from  behind  stones  and  trees 
after  the  manner  of  Indians.  Nor  do  I  wish  them  to  stop,  as  I  said  before ; 
I  have  a  curiosity  to  see  what  will  come  of  it,  to  what  further  lengths  they 
will  go.  I  will  endeavor  to  live  through  it  all;  and  I  trust  this  explanation 
to  my  friends  and  the  world  will  forever  suffice,  so  that  whatever  attitude 
my  assailants  may  assume,  or  whatever  else  they  may  concoct,  I  shall  not  be 
obliged  again  to  reply  to  them. 


METHODS   OF  LITERACY   WORK. 
from  the  San  Francisco  BvXUtin. 

"Certain  commentaries  and  criticisms  which  have  appeared  of  late,  not  so 
much  about  literary  production  as  the  methods  of  literary  work,  strike  us  as 
not  only  lacking  in  the  judicial  quality  of  temper,  but  as  going  altogether  be- 
yond the  province  of  fair  criticism,  and  becoming  merely  impertinent  com- 
ments. When  a  gentleman  goes  to  the  table  of  his  host,  the  dishes  may  or 
may  not  be  to  his  liking.  But  he  has  no  business  with  the  process  by  which 
the  cook  prepared  the  dishes.  His  nose  thrust  into  the  kitchen  is  an  imperti- 
nence, for  which  he  should  be  soundly  snubbed.  When  it  comes  to  literature, 
the  fair-minded  critic  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  processes  by  which  any 
particular  work  has  been  produced.  He  deals  with  the  quality  only.  He  may 
be  interested  in  the  fact  that  Hawthorne  produced  his  most  brilliant  romance 
while  holding  a  political  office,  and  was  daily  giving  attention  to  the  affairs  of 
the  Salem  Custom  House ;  or  that  Charles  Lamb  was  a  clerk,  sitting  on  his 
stool  during  business  hours  in  the  office  of  the  East  India  Company;  or  that 
Napoleon  III.  had  a  corps  of  paid  writers  and  investigators  to  help  him  in 
bringing  out  his  Life  of  Julius  Ccesar;  or  that  the  greater  number  of  poems 
written  by  Bryant,  and  nearly  all  his  literary  work  were  performed  while  he 
was  editor  of  a  leading  newspaper,  and  was  every  day  doing  his  work  in  the 
editorial  otiice.  But  these  incidents  are  never  lugged  in  to  depreciate  literary 
work ;  or  if  done  at  all,  it  is  by  some  captious  or  impertinent  popinjay  who 
does  not  know  the  province  of  honest  criticism.  The  irresponsible  Ishmaelite 
who  whacks  right  and  left  may  hope  to  make  a  mark  in  that  way,  but  the 
mark  is  rather  that  which  he  makes  upon  himself,  and  which  in  the  long  run 
becomes  repugnant  to  those  who  have  some  correct  notions  of  intellectual 
honesty. 

"Not  long  since  the  Nation  had  a  criticism  of  a  volume  which  had  been 
written  by  an  author  on  this  coast.  The  writer  wenf  behind  his  knowledge  of 
the  book  to  hint,  at  least,  about  the  methods  of  its  production.  The  merits  of 
the  volume  itself  were  a  fairer  subject  for  criticism.  Within  this  limit,  even 
the  harshest  comment  must  be  tolerated.  For  no  matter  how  stinging  the 
blow  is,  if  it  is  fairly  dealt,  it  is  to  be  accepted  in  good  faith.  There  is  this 
also  to  be  said,  that  no  unfavorable  criticism  ever  permanently  injured  a 
meritorious  work.  The  author  can  afford  to  have  any  amount  of  adverse 
criticism,  so  that  the  writer  is  decently  honest,  however  much  he  may  be  mis- 
taken in  his  judgment.  Nor  is  it  likely  that  the  impertinence  which  meddles 
with  his  methods  of  literary  production — the  number  of  hours  he  is  engaged 
in  other  pursuits  outside  of  the  work  of  authorship,  the  number  of  offices  or 
places  of  business  he  may  have,  the  number  of  persons  on  his  pay  roll,  the 
checks  he  may  sign,  the  amount  of  copy  he  may  revise — will  do  him  much 


METHODS  OF  LITERAltY  WORK. 

hurt.  When  a  book  is  published,  the  judgment  of  a  discriminating  public  is 
challenged  as  to  its  merits.  They  may  like  it  or  not.  Its  merits  and  defects 
are  legitimate  subjects  of  comment.  The  critic  is  not  invited  to  his  back- 
room, nor  to  share  any  business  or  literary  confidence.  Here  is  so  much  work. 
The  plan,  design,  character,  years  of  preliminary  labor,  collection  of  docu- 
ments, and  all  that  relates  to  the  execution  of  the  work,  has  been  conceived 
by  one  man.  The  critic  has  nothing  to  do  with  his  early  literary  (jualifications, 
whether  he  was  a  blacksmith,  basket-maker,  dealer  in  secoml-liand  clothes, 
pawnbroker,  or  a  bookseller  by  early  occupation.  The  irrepressil)l6  Philistine, 
for  the  very  reason  that  he  is  not  an  honest  critic,  will  go  beyond  and  dwell 
on  these  immaterial  circumstances.  Personal  and  confidential  knowledge 
would  be  used,  and  the  bushwacker  might  even  go  further  and  tell  the  public 
what  the  writer  hail  daily  for  his  dinner,  whether  he  paid  his  market  bills 
promptly,  his  laundryman  and  baker,  what  wages  lie  paid  to  his  employes, 
and  80  on. 

"All  this  might  be  greatly  relished  as  gossip,  but  it  is  not  legitimate 
criticism.  It  belongs  rather  to  the  deimrtment  of  literary  mendicancy.  There 
are  days  of  literary  puppyhood  before  the  juvenile  teeth  are  shed,  when  these 
excrescences  are  expected  ;  but  in  a  more  mature  stage  of  development,  we 
expect  better  things.  Xo  fair  judgment,  and  none  which  is  worth  a  rush,  can 
be  made  up  on  the  trivial  and  immaterial  circumstances  of  authorship.  Nor 
is  it  a  matter  of  the  least  concern  as  to  the  way  in  which  a  writer  has  come  by 
his  methods — whether  he  was  formerly  a  cof>k  in  a  restaurant,  a  candle-maker, 
or  a  taimer.  His  work  is  the  only  thing  which  challenges  critical  judgment, 
and  that  only  when  he  has  given  it  to  the  public." 


From  the  S«n  Francisco  Argonaut. 

"  Mr  H.  H.  Bancroft  retired  from  active  business  for  the  express  purpose 
of  devoting  himself  to  his  histories  ;  he  placed  the  management  of  that  busi- 
ness in  the  hands  of  his  brother,  Mr  A.  L.  Bancroft,  who  is  still  conducting  it. 
As  to  the  question  of  his  employment  of  assistants,  that  is  a  matter  of  no- 
toriety. There  has  never  been  any  secresy  concerning  it.  Mr  Bancroft  has 
made  repeated  acknowledgment  of  their  services,  in  the  prefaces  to  his  volumes 
and  elsewhere.  When  a  man  devotes  a  large  fortune,  acquired  during  half  a 
life-time,  and  devotes  the  remainder  of  that  life-time  as  well,  to  the  erection 
of  a  literary  monument  which  will  do  honor  to  his  native  land,  it  is  a  sad  com- 
mentary upon  the  envious  and  carping  spirit  of  the  day,  that  he  should  have 
such  unjust  and  cniel  slurs  made  concerning  his  motives  and  his  personal 
honor." 

(From  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle.] 

"A  short  time  ago  tlie  New  York  Emihi;/  Post  publi.'ihe<l  what  it  called  a 
review  of  the  first  volume  of  H.  H.  liancroft's  I/ixtorn  of  (hf  f'nrijif  Stules 
In  reality  it  was  an  attack  on  Mr  Bancroft's  conception  of  the  Aztec  or  Maya 
civilization,  and  very  little  space  was  given  to  the  l)Ook  under  discussion.  This 
was  followe<l  in  a  few  days  by  a  letter  to  the  editor  from  an  obscure  lawyer  in 
San  Francisco,  who  made  a  failure  of  the  CaHfoniian,  and  who  charged  that 


METHODS  OF  LITERARY  WORK. 

Mr  Bancroft's  historical  writing  was  done  for  him  by  assistants,  and  that  he 
was  merely  the  editor  of  what  purported  to  be  his  own  work;  that  be  spent 
his  time  in  conducting  the  affairs  of  a  large  publishing  house  and  not  in  writ- 
ing history,  and  that  he  oflFered  to  pay  for  favorable  reviews  of  his  book.  The 
letter  was  so  full  of  personal  malice  that  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  how  the 
editor  of  the  Post  came  to  admit  it,  especially  as  the  man  who  made  these 
charges  is  unknown  and  irresponsible.  Of  course  those  who  know  Mr  Ban- 
croft do  not  need  to  have  the  falsehood  in  these  charges  exposed.  The  his- 
torian, however,  could  not  keep  silent  under  such  scandalous  accusations,  and 
he  sent  to  the  Post  an  answer  which  completely  disposes  of  his  slanderer.  In 
it  he  gives  some  details  of  his  work,  which  we  reproduce,  as  they  are  of  in- 
terest to  anyone  who  has  read  his  books." 

From  the  Sacramento  Record-Union. 
"We  can  congratulate  the  author  of  this  work  tliat  he  has  met  with  an  unkind 
critic.  It  is  well  that  tbe  sneer  should  at  times  play  its  part.  In  the  unani- 
mity with  which  Mr  Bancroft's  works  have  been  received  with  open  arms, 
there  has  been  danger  of  praise  palling  upon  taste.  In  an  Eastern  review  he 
and  his  work  have  been  mercilessly  criticised  and  literally  torn  in  twain.  Re- 
duced to  its  essence,  the  objection  that  our  Eastern  contemporary  takes  to  Mr 
Bancroft's  volumes  consists  of  two  things — that  he  employes  amanuenses  who 
do  the  real  labor  of  transci'iption  and  assist  in  the  work  of  composition;  and 
secondly,  that  he  has  not  taken  the  conventional  view  of  early  history  of  the 
Western  shores,  ventured  to  differ  with  some  eminent  authors,  and  has  treated 
legend  and  romance  as  historical  facts.  Added  to  this  is  some  carping  that  Mr 
Bancroft  has  not  cited  authors  whom  the  reviewer  deems  the  better  writers  on 
certain  points  of  historic  dispute.  This  is  all  there  is  in  the  criticism  that 
has  awakened  so  much  public  attention,  and  interested  even  the  prosaic  tele- 
graph, when  it  is  divested  of  the  imquestionably  scholarly  guise.  It  is  not 
to  be  conceded  that  the  objections  found  to  the  style  of  Mr  Bancroft  are  at  all 
essential  to  be  considered — we  prefer,  with  the  vast  majority  of  readers,  to 
look  only  at  the  accomplishments  of  the  author.  In  the  first  place — though 
we  have  no  commission  to  speak  for  Mr  Bancroft,  and  no  personal  knowledge 
of  what  his  own  defense  may  be — it  has  never  been  a  matter  of  concealment 
here  that  he  was  engaged  in  a  work  demanding  the  aid  of  a  large  number  of 
ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  collation  of  tlie  notes  and  data  necessary  to  tlie 
work  in  hand.  Certainly  it  was  well  known  on  this  coast,  and  the  designer 
of  the  work  has  been  rather  proud  to  make  it  known.  Hubert  Howe  Bancroft, 
1  etiring  from  a  long  life  of  labor  as  a  merchant,  inspired  by  a  natural  love  for 
books,  and  by  a  taste  for  literature,  qualitied  by  a  broad  reading  and  a  liberal 
education,  began  the  collection  of  a  private  library,  consisting,  in  the  main, 
of  works  devoted  to  tlie  history  of  the  peoples  of  the  Pacific  sliores  of  this 
continent.  In  this  labor  he  visited  Europe  twice,  searching  in  every  nook  and 
corner  for  treasures  for  his  library,  and  for  rare  and  desirable  manuscripts  and 
m.aps  and  charts.  He  spared  no  outlay  of  money  in  ransacking  the  world  for 
the  material  so  necessary  to  his  task.  His  much  travel,  liis  untiring  labor  and 
patient  research  in  this  matter,  are  facts  of  local  history,  and  need  not  be  re- 
peated. Suffice  it  to  say  no  private  library  on  the  globe  has  been  drawn  from  such 


METHODS  OF  LITERARY  WORK. 

varied  sources  or  accumulated  under  such  difficulties.  It  now  stands  in  a  hand- 
some building  in  San  Francisco,  which  its  owner  erected  as  a  fitting  shrine  for 
his  work,  a  collection  of  35,000  volumes.  In  detail,  this  library  has  been  twice 
descril>ed  in  these  columns.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  trea-surcs  that  Mr 
Bancroft  gave  himself  up  to  the  airangement  and  classifying  of  the  facts  of 
history  relating  to  this  coast,  and  the  races  of  people  who  have  dwelt  here,  the 
adventurers  wlio  have  invaded  it,  the  conquests  it  has  been  sul)jc'it  to,  the 
scenes  it  has  been  the  witness  of,  the  growth  and  the  development  which  have 
resulted  from  tlie  contending  forces  of  tliree  centuries.  When  we  listen  to  tlie 
theme  Wagner's  genius  has  prepared  for  our  ear,  and  through  it  for  our  soul, 
we  do  not  pause  to  Ji.sk  how  he  accomplished  it  in  detail.  It  is  enough  to 
know  that  he  has  grasi>ed  more  of  the  divine  inspiration  of  melody,  has  given 
it  grander  expression,  than  any  of  his  predecessors;  that  he  has  gone  beyond 
and  before  the  age,  and  has  drawn  it  up  to  him  by  the  power  of  his  genius. 
We  do  not  invade  tlie  sanctuary  of  the  composer  and  nib  his  pens,  or  test  the 
•  juality  of  his  inks;  we  do  not  care  to  know  whether  he  was  aided  by  aman- 
uenses or  not.  What  we  do  care  to  know  is,  whose  was  the  mind  that  con- 
ceived, whose  the  perseverance  that  accomplislied  ?  It  would  add  nothing  to 
the  appreciation  of  the  work  to  know  that  the  writer  alone  had  penned  every 
line,  collated  evei-y  fact,  copied  out  every  date,  written  every  chapter  and 
formulated  every  passage  of  a  work,  the  very  scope  and  character  of  wliich  proves 
that  to  its  accomplishment  no  single  life  would  be  sufficiently  ample.  On  the 
contrary,  the  world  is  indebted  to  this  man,  because  he  had  the  broad  com- 
prehension and  the  unselfish  liberality  and  the  genius  to  enter  upon  a  task 
that  can  only  Ije  compassed  by  the  very  means  he  has  employed.  There  were 
unwritten  pages  of  history  covering  in  their  sweep  such  vast  periods  of  time, 
that  no  single  intelligence  had  before  djired  to  even  contemplate  them  in  their 
full  extent,  until  Mr  Bancroft  ess.ayed  the  task  of  gleaning  from  tlie  world 
of  scattered  manuscript,  lx)oks,  maps,  charts,  letters  and  wasting  tomes,  the 
fact  and  the  romance,  saving  to  the  literature  of  onr  day  these  molding  and 
fast  being  forgotten  records.  It  is  to  him  that  the  people  of  this  century  owe 
it  that  in  a  compact  form  and  a  reasonable  number  of  volumes  they  are  to  be 
enabled  to  command  at  one  view  all  of  historical  value  that  is  existent  in  the 
world  concerning  this  coast.  To  the  very  few  was  it  given  alone  to  even  peer  . 
into  the  treasures  of  the  history  now  undertaken  by  Bancroft,  but  by  his 
iigency,  the  humblest  scholar  will  be  enabled  to  walk  in  fields  where  lie  had 
never  l>efore  hoped  to  trea<l.  To  the  unselfisli  ambition  of  an  humljle  citizen 
in  gratifying  the  desire  to  add  to  the  trea-surc-house  of  the  world's  knowledge, 
we  are  indebted  for  records  that  will  endure  as  long  as  this  country  has  a  his- 
tory. We  do  not  care  to  inquire  into  the  hidden  influence  tliat  inspires  him 
to  this  work.  We  know  it  is  not  hope  of  gain,  for  from  such  a  vast  under- 
taking, involving  such  an  outlay  of  money,  tliere  can  be  no  adefjuate  return 
in  one  lifetime,  and  we  much  doubt  if  ever  tlie  money-cost  of  producing  this 
history  of  the  Pacific  States  of  America  can  be  realized  from  the  sales  possible 
to  such  a  work.  There  are  certain  events  in  the  life  of  every  man  that  stamp 
and  fiishion  his  character,  but  it  is  of  no  present  consequence  to  this  people 
what  the  event  was  that  moved  our  fellow-citizen  to  enter  upon  the  work 
which  now  absorbs  the  hours  and  years  of  his  life  and  the  fortune  that  com- 


METHODS  OF  LITERARY  WORK. 

mercial  pursuits  had  gathered.  It  is  enough  to  know  that  he  is  contributing 
to  the  intelligence  of  the  world,  and  is  doing  a  work  that  will  not  be  lost 
when  he  is  gone,  but  will,  by  coming  generations,  l)e  prized  more  richly  than 
is  possible  by  us.  What,  then,  if  the  carping  critic  shall  discover  flaws  in  the 
style  of  the  writer;  shall  we  allow  these  to  blind  us  to  his  marvelous  resolu- 
tion and  indomitable  perseverance,  even  if  we  shall  admit  for  the  time  and 
the  argument  that  the  critic  is  correct  in  hi.s  view  ?  What  if  it  be  true  that 
Bancroft  is  at  times  "  strained  and  pragmatical,  or  that  liis  philosophizings  are 
sometimes  in  narrow  grooves  and  superficial " — shall  we  permit  these  defects 
of  minor  importance  to  blind  us  to  the  inestiinal)le  value  of  this  ample  store- 
house of  knowledge  which  he  has  piled  to  the  very  rafters  for  the  delectation 
of  his  fellow-men  ?  That  in  his  methods  and  his  style  he  gives  evidence  of 
rare  originality  and  marked  vigor  of  thought;  that  he  is  no  mere  copyist;  that 
lie  is  just  in  his  estimates,  cool  in  his  judgment,  dispassionate  in  his  arraign- 
ments and  faithful  in  his  recitals,  none  have  denied.  As  to  the  criticism  that 
he  has  elevated  myths  into  historical  realities,  and  has  sought  to  build  into 
facts  romances  and  legends,  let  the  impartial  reader  determine.  Certainly 
neither  the  critic  nor  Mr  Bancroft  can  discuss  those  matters  with  satisfaction 
in  the  ordinary  limits  of  newspaper  columns.  But  we  pass  these  profitless 
considerations  growing  out  of  the  metliods  Mr  Bancroft  employed  to  index, 
arrange  and  annotate  his  vast  collection  and  divide  it  into  historical,  ethnogi-a- 
phical,  biographical  and  physical  divisions,  and  to  draw  therefrom  the  facts 
and  data  necessary  to  his  task.  We  turn  to  consider  rather  the  work  itself — 
the  result  of  the  fine  tastes  of  a  gentleman  of  culture — the  contribution  of  a 
Californian  to  the  literature  of  his  country,  the  gift  of  an  unselfish  man  to 

the  historical  records  of  a  nation  as  yet  upon  the  threshold  of  life  and  action. 

*«♦««♦« 

The  series  contemplated  by  Mr  Bancroft  could  never  have  been  prepared  had 
he  not  adopted  the  system  he  did  of  engaging  in  the  work  a  number  of  assist- 
ants, who  carry  out  the  conception  that  is  his  alone,  and  every  line  of  whose 
work  passes  imder  the  master's  eye  and  is  prepared  according  to  the  model 
and  outline  he  has  given,  while  all  the  more  important  commentaries  come 
from  his  pen  direct,  as  we  understand  it." 


Sax  FitA.Ncisto,  Cal.,  Feb.  -28,  1883. 
Mk  Hdbekt  H.  Banckokt, 

Dear  Sir:  After  an  examination  of  your  historical  works,  and  a  care- 
ful consideration  of  tlieir  scope,  the  territory  covered,  the  importance  of  the 
subject,  the  fullness  of  material  at  your  connnand,  and  the  ability  displayed 
in  handling  it,  we  feel  it  our  duty  to  express  to  you  our  warmest  admiration; 
and  to  wish  you  that  recognition  whicli  your  efforts  so  richly  deserve.  To 
your  method  of  writing  this  history  we  give  our  uucpialified  approbation,  sat- 
isfied as  we  are,  that  it  is  not  only  the  best,  but  the  only  way  in  which  the 
work  can  be  exhaustively  done.  Had  you  not  undertaken  it,  at  this  time, 
and  in  this  or  some  similar  mode,  the  loss  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  to  the 
world,  would  have  been  great  and  lasting,  if  not  irreparable. 
Respectfully  Yours, 

LoKKNZo  Sawykr,  Judge  U.  S.  Circuit  Court, 
Ogden  Hoffman,  Judge  U.  S.  District  Court, 
Oliver  P.  Evans,  Judge  Superior  Court,  San  Francisco, 
D.  J.  TooiiY,  Judge  Superior  Court,  San  Francisco. 


WHAT  IS  BEING  SAID  OF  MR  HUBERT  H.  BANCROFT 
AND  HIS  LITERARY  WORK. 


8TTLE. 

"His  style  is  clear  and  without  affectation,  recalling  the  straightforward 
simplicity  of  Herodotus." — London  Westminster  Review. 

"He  writes  well  and  gracefully." — New  York  Sun. 

"I  am  full  of  admiration  at  the  immense  reading  it  displays,  and  at  the 
singular,  vivid,  and  graceful  English  in  which  tliat  reading  is  expressed." 
IV.  H.  Lecky. 

"The  work  is  intensely  interesting.  Mr  Bancroft's  style  is  clear,  his 
arrangement  of  materials  judicious,  and  his  symmetry  admirable. '' — Chicaijo 
Journal. 

"Striking  passages  are  welded  together  with  a  logical  cohesion  so  strict 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  detach  them. " — New  York  Herald. 

"It  is  written  in  a  clear,  concise  way,  the  language  being  always  well 
chosen,  and  quite  frequently  very  beautiful,  without  any  strainmg  for  effect." 
Pitlsbunj  Gazette. 

"  High  standard  of  style  and  scholarship." — Boston  Zion's  Herald. 

"  It  is  of  great  value,  which  is  enhanced  by  its  charm  of  style." — Chicago 
Timet. 

"  I  am  particularly  pleased  with  the  sharp,  condensed  form  in  which  the 
facts  are  given." — Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 

"  Mr  Bancroft's  style  deser\'es  great  commendation.  He  has  e\idently 
sought  to  be  concise — those  who  do  so  often  become  obscure.  He  has  not 
fallen  into  this  fault.  It  has  been  said  that  the  first  qualification  of  a  good 
M-riter  is  to  have  a  clear  notion  of  what  he  wishes  to  express.  Mr  Bancroft 
always  has  this;  he  must  have  great  analytical  power,  and  yet  his  descrip- 
tions manifest  an  unusual  skill  in  synthetical  reconstruction.  His  style  is 
concise,  lucid,  graphic,  often  epigrammatic." — San  Francisco  Bulletin. 

"  The  information  has  been  digested  into  a  flowing  and  entertaining  narra- 
tive."— New  York  Observer. 

"Clear,  concise,  forcible,  and  well  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  modem 
students. " — Overland  MoiUlUy. 

ABILITY. 

"He  has  applied  the  scientific  methods  of  history  writing  in  a  manner 
never  before  dreamed  of." — liecord- Union. 

"Beyond  all  the  patient  labor  in  marshalling  details,  Mr  Bancroft  shows 
ulso  a  sound,  healthy  literary  judgment." — Atlantic  Monthly. 


2  WHAT  IS  BEIXG  SAID. 

"  He  has  investigated  mth  the  most  conscientious  care  and  criticised  with 
no  little  skill  the  enormous  mass  of  official  documents  which  in  different  ways 
relate  to  his  subject;  and  he  has  digested  the  results  of  his  laborious  toil  into 
a  narrative  clear,  logical,  and  attractive. " — London  Times. 

"  You  have  handled  a  complex,  sometimes  even  tangled  and  tautological 
subject,  with  much  clearness  and  discrimination.  The  conscientious  laJx)r  in 
collecting,  and  the  skill  shown  in  the  convenient  arrangement  of  such  a  vast 
body  of  material,  deserve  the  highest  praise. " — J.  R.  LotoelL 

"The  plan  of  the  great  work  has  been  honored  in  the  execution." — Daily 
Oregonian. 

"  It  is  a  monument  of  well-directed  industry  and  great  aMlity." — Edinburgh 
Scotsman. 

"A  lasting  monument  to  the  scholarship  and  ability  of  its  author." — Louis- 
ville Courier-Joui-nal. 

"The  industry,  the  sound  judgment,  and  the  excellent  literary  style  dis- 
played in  this  work  cannot  be  too  highly  praised.  It  stands  quite  alone  of 
its  class  in  this  department. " — Boston  Post. 

"Mr  Prescott  was  carried  away  by  his  vivid  imagination,  and  errs  in  ex- 
cess. Mr  Morgan  errs  in  the  opposite  direction.  Mr  Bancroft  avoids  both 
extremes.  Without  such  preliminary  work  as  that  which  has  been  done  by 
Ikir  Bancroft,  a  history  would  be  impossible. " — Edinburgh  Review. 

"  The  manner  in  which  you  have  sifted  and  weighed  the  testimony,  derived 
as  it  is  from  various  and  sometimes  contradictory  sources;  the  penetration 
and  impartiality  you  have  displayed  in  discarding  whatever  is  erroneous  or 
doubtful,  and  accepting  that  only  which  is  well  authenticated,  would  be  cred- 
itable in  a  judicial  investigation." — </.  Ross  Browne. 

"  Never  was  a  large  library  more  thoroughly  ransacked  or  more  completely 
laid  under  tribute  by  a  writer." — Tlie  Nation. 

"Where  Mr  Bancroft  expresses  opinions  of  his  own,  or  discourses  on  tlie 
bearing  and  significance  of  the  observations  of  others,  he  perfoims  the  part 
of  the  enlightened  critic  with  much  shrewdness  and  modesty." — London  Tele- 
graph. 

"Every  reader  must  admire  the  single-heartedness  with  which  he  devotes 
himself  to  the  investigation  of  facts.  His  volumes  are  really  a  mar\-el  of 
research  and  discrimination.  Although  he  does  not  conceal  his  consciousness 
of  a  mission,  he  shows  no  trace  of  the  credulity  with  which  specialists  are 
apt  to  pursue  the  inquiries  to  which  they  have  devoted  their  lives.  His  sound 
judgment  is  no  less  apparent  on  the  pages  of  his  work  than  his  indefatigable 
diligence  and  supreme  self-devotedness.  No  one  but  an  enthusiast  could 
grapple  with  such  a  task,  but  his  enthusiasm  is  without  weakness,  and  is  in- 
spired by  the  pure  love  of  knowledge,  not  by  the  caprices  of  sentunent. 
Hence  it  is  of  the  quality  demanded  for  the  successful  accomplishment  of  one 
of  the  foremost  literary  enterprises  of  the  day." — Ntw  York  Tribune. 

"What  good  sense,  painstaking  labor,  and  honesty  of  purpose  can  hope  to 
achieve,  Mr  Bancroft  has  accompushed." — London  Standard. 

"Nothing  seems  to  have  been  too  minute  to  escape  his  eyes." — Boston 
Transcript. 

"Tlie  history  of  literature  does  not  contain  many  examples  of  a  grander 
literary  purpose,  a  more  thorough  preparation,  or  a  more  successful  aciiiev©- 
ment. " — Boston  Oongregationalist. 


WHAT  IS  BEING  SAID. 


THE  WORK. 


"  Not  only  nneqoalled,  bat  tmapproachcd.  A  literary  enterprise  more  de- 
serving of  a  generous  8ym]>athy  ana  support  has  never  been  undertaken  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic." — North  American  Review. 

"  One  of  the  most  notable  in  our  literature." — Literary  World. 

"  I  am  finding  your  collection  of  facts  very  valuable  for  my  own  more  im- 
mediate ends  in  writing  the  Principles  of  Sociolojy." — Iltrbtrt  Spencer. 

"A  work  of  enormous  research,  and  requiring  carefal  study." — Sir  11.  C. 
RawUnaon. 

"The  wonder  and  admiration  of  all  literary  men;  and  will  be  a  lasting 
monument  of  the  indomitable  energy  and  perseverance  of  a  man  who  is  de- 
voting the  best  part  of  his  life  to  enrich  the  literature  of  the  world  by  giving 
to  it  a  correct  history  of  this  hitherto  almost  unknown  and  incomprehensible 
part  of  the  globe.  "—J.  M.  Hamilton. 

"  Magnificent  work." — Cluirlea  Darwin, 

*•  A  solid  one." — Max  Miiller. 

"Exceedingly  interesting  and  important." — TJiomaa  Carlyle. 

"  One  of  the  noblest  literary  enterprises  of  our  day." — John  0.  WhiUi^. 

"He  has  discovered  a  thousand  rivulets  of  doubtful  source  and  uncertain 
direction,  and  united  them  into  a  broad  historic  stream.  We  know  of  no 
volume  of  history  more  instructive  to  the  student,  or  more  interesting  to  the 
general  reader.  It  will  remain  forever  a  momunent  to  the  industry  and  abil- 
ity of  the  author." — Territorial  Enterprise. 

"A  monument  of  literary  and  historical  industry." — A.  li.  Spofford. 

"  It  is  simply  fascinating." — Clarence  King. 

"  An  interesting  work,  conveying  great  profit  and  instruction." — Sir  John 
Lubbock. 

"It  is  a  production  of  almost  incredible  labor,  of  excellent  arrangement, 
and  admirable  execution,  everywhere  betraying  the  union  of  quiet  enthu- 
siasm and  sound  judgment  which  have  been  exercised  in  its  preparation." 
Oeorge  liipUy. 

"Of  surpassing  interest,  and  of  a  value  great  and  constantly  increasing." 
JIart/ord  Courant. 

"Interests  readers  of  every  class." — Christian  Union. 

"A  very  valuable  addition  to  the  history  of  the  American  continent." 
Dodon  Advertiser. 

"A  monument  that  will  cause  his  name  to  be  remembered  ages  after  he  haa 
ceased  to  be  in  the  flesh." — Ttte  Guardian. 

"  It  is  safe  to  say  that  there  has  not  occurred  in  the  literary  history  of  the 
United  States  a  more  piquant  surprise. " — Scribner'a  Monthly. 

"The  work  forms  one  of  the  most  valuable  contributions  of  modem  times, 
and  should  have  an  honored  place  in  every  well-selected  library." — Journal 
of  Science. 

"  His  completed  work  will  be  reckoned  among  the  meet  precious  treasures 
of  our  literatwco."— Literary  World. 


4  WHAT  IS  BEING  SAID. 

"A  great  storehouse  of  facts  which  bear  upon  the  most  important  specula- 
tions."— San  Francisco  Post. 

*'  One  of  the  most  formidable  and  important  literary  undertakings  of  mod- 
em times. " — Stockton  Independent. 

"  It  will  be  a  standard  work  on  this  interesting  subject  for  all  coming  time, 
and  will  immortalize  the  author." — San  Jos6  Mercury. 

"  Your  work  has  taught  me  a  great  many  things.  It  needs  no  praise  from 
me.  It  will  be  consulted  and  read  centuries  after  you  are  gone." — </«o.  W. 
Draper. 

"  The  work  is  one  of  immense  magnitude  and  importance;  yet  the  promise 
is  of  its  being  well  done. " — Noi'vokh  Bulletin. 

"  The  work  will  be  one  of  the  most  important  in  the  language." — American 
Booksellers'  Guide. 

"One  of  the  most  complete  and  exhaustive  works  ever  published." — .^e* 
vada  Transcript. 

"  It  is  worthy  of  special  attention  by  the  historical  student  and  the  general 
reader." — Boston  Olobe. 

"A  more  interesting  book  has  seldom  been  put  in  our  hands,  containing  a 
mine  of  information  of  which  we  confess  we  were  utterly  ignorant." — Land 
and  Water,  London. 

"Embodies  much  more  than  any  other  single  literary  production." — Deseret 
News. 

"A  fascinating  tale," — Vallejo  Chronicle. 

"  The  book  contains  a  wealth  of  information,  and  its  interest  is  quite  that 
of  an  entrancing  romance,  notwithstanding  the  severely  accurate  manner  in 
which  the  author  deals  with  his  subject." — Milwaukee  Sentinel. 

"The  plan  sketched  is  a  magnificent  one,  and  a  substantial  contribution 
will  be  made  to  the  realized  knowledge  of  the  world." — Family  Treasury, 
London. 

"The  history  of  this  book  as  well  as  its  contents  is  of  public  interest." 
The  Academy,  London. 

"It  is  the  only  history  of  the  kind  in  existence,  and  its  value  can  hardly 
be  overestimated." — Gold  Hill  Hews. 

' '  The  value  of  this  work  is  certainly  beyond  calculation. " — Stanislaus  News. 

"  Dans  cette  grande  oeuvre,  il  a  prodigu^  les  bank  notes  comme  un  spdcula- 
teur,  pour  travailler  ensuite  avec  la  longue  patience  d'un  6rudit." — Paris 
Bevue. 

"  Exceptionally  great  historic  work." — Springfield  Bepublican. 

"  The  most  unique  and  extensive  literary  enterprise  ever  undertaken  in  any 
country  by  a  single  private  individual." — Buffalo  Advertiser. 

"  J'en  connaissais  le  plan,  grdce  b,  un  article  du  Times,  que  I'un  de  nos  cor- 
respondants  de  Londres  avait  eu  I'attention  d'addresser  h,  I'acadomie  de  Sta- 
nislas, dont  je  fais  partie.  L'execution  repond  completement  h,  ce  qui  a  eti 
annoncc  par  la  presse." — Lucien  Adam. 


WHAT  IS  BEING  SAID.  6 

"It  shows  great  merit,  and  is  an  excellent  contribution  to  the  permanent 
literature  of  the  country." — A.  A.  Hanjent. 

"  Beyond  all  ordinary  forms  of  praise." — San  Francisco  Chronicle. 

"  It  is  certainly  a  worthy  scheme,  and  is  being  carried  out  most  conscien* 
tiously." — London  Sjtectutor. 

"  It  shows  you  are  working  for  true  success  and  not  for  momentary  ap- 
plause." — Daniel  C.  Gilnuin. 

"  It  is  a  labor  the  value  of  which  will  be  more  clearly  seen  as  time  goes  by." 
Baltimore  Gazette. 

"  Of  extraordinary  research,  and  of  the  deepest  interest  to  every  intelligent 
citizen. " — Uakemjield  Courier. 

"The  chapter  which  Prescott  devotes,  in  his  Conquest  of  Mexico,  to  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  Aztecs,  is  the  most  attractive  in  his  attractive 
book,  and  that  has  hitherto  been  the  best  source  of  information  upon  the 
matter,  within  reach  of  the  genei-al  English  reader;  but  it  is  now  tlirown  into 
the  shade,  at  least  so  far  as  comprehensiveness  of  treatment  is  concerned,  by 
Mr  Bancroft's  labors." — AUa  CaL\fomia. 

"Ademas  del  m^rito  incontestable  de  la  obra,  hay  otro  muy  grande  en  las 
notas,  y  el  libro  ofrece  niieva  utilidad  como  tabia  general  de  las  cosas  do 
America.  No  lia  qnerido  V.  presentar  solamente  el  resultado  de  sus  immensas 
iuvestigaciones,  sino  (^ue  tambien  ha  querido  dar  il  otros  los  medics  de  ti"atar 
los  mismos  materias,  bajo  diferente  punto  de  vista." — Joaquin  Garcia  Icazr 
balceta. 

"A  clearer  and  more  truthful  picture  has  never  yet  been  produced." — Lon- 
don  JVeuw. 

"  La  bibliothdquc,  qui  est  son  ceuvre,  I'a  beaucoup  aid6  pour  ce  travail, 
mais  il  s'est  en  outre  entour^  do  documents  precieux  puisds  dans  les  archives 
qui  des  r<Spubliques  qui  se  sont  fait  un  honneur  de  les  mettre  k  sa  disposi* 
tion." — L'Jtalie,  Borne. 

"Auch  im  entfemtesten  Westen  giebt  es  Miinner,  die  sich  fur  Kunst  und 
Wissenschaft  interessiren,  imd  zwar  nicht,  wie  mancher  vielleiclit  annehmen 
miichte,  um  pekuniiiren  Nutzen  daraus  zu  ziehen,  sondem  allcin  aus  Licbe 
zur  guten  Sache.  Ein  treffendes  Beispiel  hierzu  gewiihrt  die  grosse  und  rciche 
Privatbibliothek  des  Hm.  Hubert  H.  Bancroft  in  San  Francisco. " — Dibliotlidi- 
tciosenacha/t,  Dresden. 

"  II  Presidente  Quadra  mentre  commenda  altamcnte  il  colossale  lavoro  isto- 
rico  condotto  con  tauta  intelligente  sagacia  dall'  onor.  Hubert  II.  Bancroft 
(che  come  gi^  annunciammo  in  altro  numero,  si  propone  di  compilare  la  isto- 
ria  della  California  e  delle  Repubbliclie  ispano-americane)  dice  die  a  causa 
delle  convulsioni  politiche  che  iin  dalla  loro  esistenza  di  mezzo  secolo  tennero 
sempre  sossopra  quel  paesi,  fecero  trascurare  quest'  opera.  Ed  invero  quelle 
repubbUche  hanno  pur  gloriose  pagine !" — UEco  d'llalia. 

"A  tantas  palabras  de  encomio  y  estimulo  por  parte  de  hombres  notables 
por  su  saljcr,  liay  que  a^rcgar  la  presteza  y  benevolencia  con  que  los  Presi- 
dcntes  del  Salvador  y  Nicaragua,  y  loe  gobemadorcs  de  los  Estados  mejicanos 
de  Jalisco  y  Sonora  se  ban  ofrecido  d  suministrar  al  sefior  Bancroft  cuantos 
datos,  manusCritos  6  impresos  scan  necesarios  para  que  pueda  Uevar  d  buen 
tt-rmino  la  historia  de  los  paises  comprendidos  entro  el  istmo  de  Panamd  y  el 
estrecho  de  Bchring." —  Voz  del  Nuevo  Mundo. 


WHAT  IS  BEING  SAID. 


PEB30NAL. 


"  No  tribute  can  be  too  great  to  the  industry  and  research  of  the  author." 
British  Quarterly  Review. 

"  Mr  Bancroft's  manner  is  calculated  to  give  us  confidence." — London 
Saturday  Review. 

"Mr  Bancroft's  motto  is  'Thorough.'    His  mind  is  of  the  German  cast." 

Cliarlen  NordJuoff. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  is  the  historian  for  whom  we  have  all  been  looking,  and  we 
may  count  ourselves  fortunate  in  finding  him  so  worthy  of  his  task." — The 
Galaxy. 

"To  Mr  Bancroft  we  tender  cordial  congratulations,  with  assurances  of 
our  sincere  appreciation  of  the  ability,  candor,  and  research  which  cliarac- 
terize  every  step  in  the  progress  of  his  great  work." — A'ew  York  Independent. 

"He  has  entered  on  one  of  the  boldest  literary  enterprises  ever  under- 
taken."— Francis  Parkman. 

"He  has  done  more  than  any  public  society  would  have  done  for  fifty 
years  to  come,  and  what  perhaps  no  society  could  do  at  any  later  period." — 
P.  B.  Avery. 

"His  success  has  been  remarkable,  and  his  work  will  be  of  the  greatest 
service." — Nature,  London. 

"  He  is  evidently  a  most  painstaking  and  conscientious  worker." — Popular 
Science  Monthly. 

"  We  question  whether  it  has  ever  fallen  to  the  lot  of  one  man  to  conduct 
80  successfully,  so  colossal  a  literary  enterprise." — Boston  Journal. 

"Won  the  praise  of  Herbert  Spencer  and  Sir  Arthur  Helps,  in  England, 
and  that  of  all  interested  in  the  subject  in  that  country,  and  of  very  many  in 
Germany  and  France.     The  praise  was  well  deserved. " — Philadelphia  Gazette. 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  your  work  welcomed  in  Europe  as  well  as  in  your  own 
country.  In  the  universality  of  your  researches  you  occupy  a  field  of  the 
deepest  interest  to  the  world,  and  without  a  rival." — George  Bancrojt. 

"Several  of  the  Presidents  of  the  Central  American  and  Mexican  States 
have  appointed  commissioners  to  collect  and  forward  to  Mr  Bancroft  mate- 
rials for  his  history. " — New  York  Post. 

"  The  projector  of  such  an  enterprise  can  have  no  sordid  motive ;  a  very 
limited  endowment  of  sagacity  may  perceive  the  futility  of  pecuniary  return 
awaiting  work  of  this  character." — Tlie  Examiner. 

"  What  a  godsend  such  a  devotee  would  have  been  for  the  Atlantic  coast 
a  hundred  years  ago !" —  Wendell  P/dllips. 

"  I  am  amazed  at  the  extent  and  nunuteness  of  your  researches." —  William 
Cullen  Bryant. 

"  What  strikes  me  most  in  it  is  the  exceeding  fairness  with  which  he  treats 
the  researches  and  the  theories  of  other  inquirers  into  subjects  akin  to  his 
own." — Sir  Arthur  Helps. 

"Whittier,  Longfellow,  Lowell,  Holmes,  Emerson,  Higginson,  Gray, 
Phillips,  Warner,  Adams,  Porter,  Nordhoff,  of  the  Atlantic  literati,  as  well 
as  all  Califomians  of  erudition,  have  congratulated  Mr  Bancroft  on  his  great 
undertaldng  and  successful  accomplishment." — MarysviUe  Appeal. 


WHAT  IS  BEING  SAID.  7 

"Children  yet  unborn  in  the  Golden  State  of  the  Pacific  will  rise  np  and 
call  him  blessed  who  has  left  them  such  a  rich  inheritance," — SatUa  Cruz 
Sentinel. 

"You  have  done  yourself  and  your  State  great  honor." — Samud  L.  M. 
Barlow. 

"  I  am  amazed  at  your  courage  and  perseverance  in  working  your  way 
through  such  a  chaparral  of  authorities  as  you  quote.  Your  labor  is  im- 
mense."— Henry  W.  Longfellow. 

"Your  practised  eye,  by  looking  at  a  single  one  of  his  notes  in  the  first 
volume  of  his  great  book,  will  recognize  an  extraordinary  thoroughness  and 
wealth  of  preparation,  and  his  patience  and  modesty  in  doing  this  work  in 
comparative  obscurity  and  without  sympathy,  furnish  an  example  for  us 
all.'— 2'.  ]V.  HiijginsontoJamta  Parian. 

"Men  have  before  devoted  life  and  fortune  to  the  prosecution  of  great 
historical  works,  and  have  labored  with  a  diligence  and  a  thoroughness  which 
can  scarcely  be  surpassed ;  but  it  has  been  reserved  for  Mr  Bancroft  to  unite 
complete  mastery  of  his  subjects  with  rapidity  of  workmanship  quite  unpar- 
alleled, and  possible  only  through  a  scientific  process  of  study  and  classifica- 
tion. " — Sacramenlo  Record. 

"  '  God  bless  such  workers  !'  says  Charles  D.  Warner,  and  we  heartily  say 
the  same." — Literary  Review. 

"The  Macauky  of  the  West."— TTendeK  PhiUips. 


SOME  LATER  NOTICES. 

"One  is  carried  alon^  from  the  very  first  pa^e  by  an  impetuosity  which  is 
at  once  charming  and  irresistible.  The  interest  is  immediately  awakened, 
the  attention  promptly  fixed.  There  is  something  in  the  dash  anil  flow  which 
in  itself  attracts  and  excites.  ♦  ♦  «  -pjjQ  present  volume  is  a  marvel 
of  industry  and  hard  work.  The  material  collected,  the  authorities  consulted, 
the  ski.l  with  whicli  all  have  been  collected  and  arranged,  and  tlie  attractive- 
ness of  style  in  which  the  whole  has  been  presented  to  the  public,  merit  the 
highest  praise.  The  narrative  abounds  in  incid<:nts  of  exciting  interest  and 
facts  of  great  importance — social,  historical,  and  political ;  rendering  this  latest 
literary  achievment  of  Mr  Bancroft  as  work  attractive  alike  to  the  general 
reader,  the  historian,  the  statesman,  and  the  sociologist.  Of  Mr  Bancroft's 
2^'ative  Race*,  men  of  prominence,  like  Mr  Herbert  Spencer  and  Mr  Lecky, 
wrote  in  the  most  eulogistic  terms  ;  and  no  juster  criticism  can  Ijc  pronouuceil 
on  the  distinguished  American  historian's  recent  publication,  than  to  say  that 
it  is  in  every  res  pect  worthy  of  its  pretleccssor  in  the  instructive  and  im- 
portant series  of  contributions  to  American  history,  on  which  our  author  is 
engaged." — London  Mornimj  Pout. 

"  We  hardly  know  which  to  admire  most — the  man-elous  patience  and  per- 
severance of  the  author,  or  the  scholarly  learning  and  just  and  discriminating 
judgment  which  is  displayed.  The  style  is  one  that  should  l)e  followed  by 
historians.  It  is  clear  and  forcible,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  has  chronicled 
the  events  is  masterly. " — Liverpool  A  Ibion  and  Telephone. 

"  Of  the  work  in  hand,  the  first  volume  is  now  before  us  ;  and,  accepting  it 
as  a  fair  sample  of  the  whole,  we  are  bound  to  offer  our  tribute  to  the  author, 
for  the  enormous  industry  indicated  and  for  the  stylo  in  which  the  work  is 
being  carried  through. " — UUngow  lltrald. 


8  WHAT  IS  BEING  SAID. 

"  His  style  is  at  once  vigorous  and  suave  ;  descending  now  with  Hume  into 
the  profundities  of  philosophic  thought ;  now  soacing  with  Ruskin  into  the 
realms  of  poetic  fancy,  or  breaking  forth  frequently  with  the  unmistakable 
brilliancy  of  genius.  He  shows  ability  in  depicting  the  beauties  of  nature, 
and  in  portraying  character  and  motive.  Nor  does  he  fail  in  the  subtleties  of 
sarcasm ;  and  in  the  use  of  classic  allusions  he  shows  a  prudence  admirably 
distinct  from  the  afifectation  of  mere  sippers  at  the  Pierian  fountains.  Though 
precise  like  Gibbon,  he  avoids  his  formality;  though  massive,  he  rounds  hia 
acute  stateliness.  America  may  well  be  proud  of  her  western  historian,  who 
must  take  his  place  with  the  foremost  of  the  age." — Sacramento  Record-  Union. 

"His  research,  no  less  than  his  vivid  and  graceful  style,  has  extorted  the 
admiration  of  Mr.  Lecky  and  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  ;  and  the  present  volume 
bears  abundant  traces  both  of  his  laborious  collection  of  materials  and  of  his 
power  of  using  them  in  the  construction  of  a  narrative  of  fascinating  interest." 
— London  Daily  News, 

"The  vivid  narrative  flows  on  with  astonishing  ease  and  power.  There  is 
not  a  dull  page  in  the  book." — The  Continent. 

"Your  method  of  study  is  absolutely  the  only  way  of  accomplishing  the 
vast  undertaking  which  you  have  entered  upon — one  of  the  most  remarkable 
in  literary  history.  The  example  of  wealth  successfully  devoted  to  a  high 
intellectual  object,  will  be  a  benefit  to  the  whole  country  ;  and  the  throwing 
of  so  much  enterprise  and  energy  into  such  a  channel  will  go  far  to  remove 
one  of  the  stigmas  of  our  American  civilization." — Francis  Parkman. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  is  a  remarkable  man.  His  volumes  are  rich  and  attractive, 
and  crammed  full  of  good  learninsj.  It  cannot  be  read  in  haste,  particularly 
if  one  wishes  to  get  at  the  substance  of  the  notes  as  he  goes  along,  which  have 
so  much  real  historical  meat  in  them.  The  Columbus  portion,  I  have  enjoyed 
thoroughly.  It  seems  to  me  the  author's  aim  is  truth,  and  not  eulogy.  Hav- 
ing previously  studied  somewhat  the  subject  of  the  early  maps,  I  was  par- 
ticularly interested  in  his  long  note  on  that  important  theme.  His  criticisms 
on  those  writers  who  had  previously  gone  over  his  ground,  or  a  portion  of  it, 
seem  fair  and  generous.  The  introduction  to  this  book  is  a  marvellous  piece 
of  generalization." — Charles  Dean,  L.L.D. 

"  The  advance  volume  you  sent  me  has  been  eagerly  examined,  and  proves 
more  than  I  dared  to  hope — full  of  interesting  facts,  well  marshalled;  the  nar- 
rative well  sustained,  and  the  basis  of  profound,  exhaustive  knowledge  of  the 
whole  ground  apparent  everywhere. " —  Wendell  Phillips. 

"  Mr  Bancroft  knows  how  highly  I  appreciate  the  importance  of  the  great 
work  upon  which  he  is  engaged,  and  also  the  fearless  and  impartial  spirit  in 
which  it  is  undertaken.  I  am  certain  that  the  early  history  of  the  continent 
will  gain  in  interest  by  the  revision  of  judgment  of  many  historical  characters 
and  events." — Charles  D.  Warner. 

"The  plan  and  execution  thus  far  is  worthy  of  the  author  of  the  Native 
Races,  a  work  monumental  of  his  industry  and  ability,  and  of  which  every 
American  should  be  proud.  I  shall  look  for  the  succeeding  volumes  with  eager 
interest." — John  G.  Whittier. 

"  It  is  amazing  to  see  what  a  man  dares  undertake,  still  more  to  see  what 
he  has  accomplished.  After  your  first  majnum  opus  there  is  nothing  we  <lo 
not  think  you  capable  of ;  and,  if  you  sliould  announce  the  prospective  publi- 
cation of  '  A  Diary  of  the  World  from  A.  M.  One  to  the  present  day,  in  one 
hundred  cords  of  octavo  volumes,'  we  should  believe  you  would  do  it  accord- 
ing to  the  prospectus.  I  found  wonderful  pleasure  in  your  previous  work, 
and  I  doubt  not  that  the  coming  one  will  equal  the  expectations  which  the 
first  has  raised."— 0/irer  Wendell  Holmes. 


WHAT  IS  BEING  SAID.  ^ 

•'Probably  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  which  exactly  corresponds  in 
value,  in  interest,  in  abundance,  and  in  completeness,  with  this  priceless 
library.  IJoth  hemispheres  have  been  searchetl  for  treasures  to  fill  it,  and  with 
such  results  that  tliere  is  no  country  on  the  globe,  for  whose  early  history  such 
ample  material  has  now  l>een  brought  together  as  for  that  of  California.  The 
JS'utive  Jiacm  gave  Mr  Bancroft  at  once  a  distinguisheil  })osition  as  an  investi- 
gator, and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  his  additions  to  uur  previous  knowl- 
edge of  the  civilization  which  the  Spaniards  found  on  the  Pacific  Coast  were 
so  imiK)rtant  and  so  interesting  that  they  seemed  like  disclosures,  ile  is  now 
recognized  as  an  authority  of  the  lirst  rank.  Mr  Bancroft  luis  had  access  to 
a  multitude  of  documents,  which  were  unknown  to  the  earlier  historian,  and 
has  followed  a  method  much  more  searching  and  precise  than  suiteil  Irving's 
temperament.  As  a  consequence,  we  have  a  narrative  which  is  practically 
new,  aI>ounding  in  picturesque  detail,  and  presenting  tiie  tragical  iximance  of 
discovery  and  conquest  with  a  particularity  and  vividness  it  luis  never  jkm- 
sessed  in  any  previous  record.  The  story  is  well  constructed,  and  in  spite  of 
the  profusion  of  incidents,  it  is  clear,  it  is  interesting,  and  it  is  animated.  Of 
the  writers  sincere  regard  for  the  truth  there  cannot  Imj  a  doubt.  To  the  his- 
tory proi)er  he  prefixes  a  brilliant  introductory  chapter  upon  Spanish  charac- 
ter and  civilization  at  the  period  of  the  conquest;  and  this  is  followed  by  tho 
story  of  Columbus,  and  an  exhaustive  and  admirable  summary  of  geographi- 
cal knowledge  and  discovery  from  the  earliest  record  to  the  year  1540.  Wo 
might  copy  specimen  pages  almost  at  random  without  danger  of  doing  Mr 
Bancroft  injustice,  for  he  is  never  dull." — New  York  Tribune. 

"  As  Bacon  took  the  co-ordination  of  all  knowledge  for  his  province,  so 
Mr  Hubert  H.  Bancroft  has  taken  the  co-ordination  of  all  western  North 
American  history  for  the  task-book  of  his  literary  ambition.  Designing  to 
present  a  series  of  full  and  accurate  histories  of  the  Pacific  States  of  North 
Auierica  from  their  discovery  and  settlement  by  Eurojjeans  down  to  the 
present  time,  he  preluded  that  great  undertaking  by  the  publication  of  his 
magnificent  volumes  on  the  Native  liacfs  of  those  States — a  work  which, 
on  its  first  appearance,  a  few  years  ago,  commanded  for  its  author  the  highest 
appLiuse  in  mouths  of  wisest  censure,  and  which  will  ever  remain  as  a 
monument  to  the  writer's  intelligence  and  industry.  But  what  shall  be  said 
inadequate  praise  of  this  intelligence  and  this  industry  when  we  add  that  it  is 
the  purpose  of  Mr  Bancroft  to  continue  the  work  thus  begun,  in  a  series  of 
thirty-four  successive  volumes,  relating  to  the  history  and  literature  of  thfs 
great  continental  section  ?  As  a  fitting  preface  to  the  whole  series,  Mr 
Bancroft  commences  the  present  volume  with  a  vivid  and  pictoral  review  of 
Eurojjean  society,  and  esiiecially  of  the  Spanish  civilization  and  polity  at  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  is  a  fine  analysis  by  which  Mr  liancroft 
traces  in  this  comjwsite  character  the  reckless  courage  and  iiiHOUciance  of  the 
volatile  Celt,  the  adventurous  spirit  of  the  Phoenician,  the  mining  skill  of 
the  Iberian,  etc. 

"  We  need  not  say  that  the  contents  of  this  volume  relate  to  the  two  most 
splendid  achievements  of  the  human  race,  for  as  such  we  certainly  must  ac- 
count the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus,  and  the  discovery  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean  by  Balboa.  It  has  been  reserved  for  Mr  Bancroft  to  pbce  the 
character  and  exploits  by  the  latter  for  the  fii-st  time  in  their  proper  historical 
framework,  for  we  presume  that  most  rea<lers  are  not  aware  tliat  the  tidings  of 
Biilboa's  discovery  created  little  less  sensation  in  Europe  than  that  of  Columbus, 
twenty-two  years  before." — New  York  Herald. 

"  The  character  of  Columbus  is  treated  in  the  light  of  facts,  without  any 
aid  from  tlie  imagination,  and  differs  widely  from  that  which  Irving's 
exuberant  fancy  has  ma^le  a  tradition.  As  depicted  by  Mr  liancrolt, 
Columbus  is  less  the  dcmi-go<l,  l»ut  more  the  man.  The  narativc,  while  mver 
sacrificing  pliotographic  exactness  to  vivid  coloring,  or  cold  fact  to  brilliancy, 
is  of  absorbing  interest,  and  reads  like  one  long  romance." — ISyracuse  JJeruld. 


10  WHAT  IS  BEING  SAID. 

"  He  is  the  Herbert  Spencer  of  historians.  His  diligence  in  collecting 
data,  his  painstaking  in  arrangement,  liis  accuracy  of  statement,  as  well  as 
the  vastncss  of  his  undertakings,  contribute  to  ^ive  him  a  place  among  histo- 
rians similar  to  that  occupied  by  Mr.  Spencer  among  sociologists.  His  style 
is  energetic,  strong  and  picturesque.  His  judgments  are  just ;  his  conclu- 
sions follow  from  the  facts,  and  his  narrative  is  almost  invariably  of  unflag- 
ging interest.  Not  only  do  the  American  people  and  the  historical  student 
owe  to  the  author  a  large  debt  of  gratitude  for  this  work,  which  one  not  jios- 
sessed  of  enthusiasm  and  historical  genius,  as  well  as  patience,  would  never 
have  undertaken  ;  but  many  governments  of  Europe,  whose  explorers  set  foot 
on  the  Pacitic  Coast,  sliould  feci  the  obligations  under  which  they  are 
placed. " — Boston  Journal. 

"  Open  the  book  at  random,  and  interesting  matter  greets  your  eye.  The 
style  is  good,  and  the  pages  fairly  glisten  with  incidents.  Not  a  dull 
page  between  those  covers — young  aud  old  will  delight  in  it.  The  contents 
are  fresh  and  new  ;  not  even  Prescott  can  claim  more  homage  from  the 
reader  than  should  be  given  Mr.  Bancroft  for  his  noble  beginning  of  a  noble 
endeavor  to  be  truthful  and  captivating  at  the  same  time." — PiUsbunj  Tele- 
graph' 

"I  take  pleasure  in  calling  your  attention  to  Mr.  Hubert  H.  Bancroft's 
Hiatorn  of  the  Pacific  States.  The  volumes  already  issued,  as  indeed  the  greater 
part  of  tlie  work,  treat  of  times  and  events  of  great  interest  to  the  Catholic 
world.  I  am  assured  that  five  out  of  tlie  seven  volumes  on  California  will  bo 
devoted  to  the  history  of  the  country  under  Missionary  regime,  nine-tenths 
of  which  has  never  appeared  in  print,  being  drawn  from  Government  and 
Archiepiscopal  Archives,  and  from  private  and  wholly  original  sources.  The 
Histories  of  Central  America  and  ilexico  are  altogether  of  Catholic  countries, 
societies  and  institutions.  It  has  been  carefully  noted  in  the  volumes  already 
in  print  that  the  distinguished  author  has  treated  all  subjects  bearing  on 
Church  History  or  Religion,  with  both  great  ability  and  candor,  which  guaran- 
tees tlie  assurance  that  as  a  History  of  the  Pacific  Stages  it  will  compare  favor- 
ably with  the  best  literary  productions  of  the  kind.  I  intend  to  enrich  my 
diocesan  library  with  this  interesting  work,  as  I  should  deem  it  incomplete 
without  it." 

*  J.  S.  ALEMANY,  A.  S.  F. 

"His  style  is  clear  and  forcible;  it  is  attractive  for  its  incisiveness,  its 
plainness,  its  smooth,  rapid,  energetic,  logical  progression.  He  might  be 
classed  with  Herodotus  for  logic  and  perspicuity,  with  Gibbon  for  studious 
thoroughness,  with  Macaulay  for  brilliant  attractiveness,  with  Napier  for 
truth,  analysis  and  critical  judgment." — Rochester  Alomintj  Herald. 

"  His  methods  of  writing  histoiy  are  nothing  less  than  royal.  Judged  purely 
and  simj^ly  as  a  literary  performance,  there  is  the  highest  praise  to  be  a\S"arded 
to  this  history  of  Central  America.  Too  much  praise  cannot  be  given  for  hia 
candor,  his  spirit  of  equity  aud  love  of  truth.  The  book  grows  more  and  moro 
interesting  until  the  final  page.  Tlie  work  as  a  whole  is  superb  and  calls  for 
genuine  enthusiasm.  We  are  proud  that  such  an  undertaking  has  arisen  in 
this  land — an  undertaking  which  will  surely  add  no  less  glory  to  our  literary 
history  than  Prescott's  or  Irving's  immortal  work." — Philadelphia  Press. 

"Of  the  thoroughness  of  his  research,  the  indefatigableness  of  his  spirit,  the 
enthusiasm  of  his  temper,  the  honesty  of  his  mind,  the  independence  and 
candor  of  his  judgment,  there  can  be  no  question." — Literary  JVorld. 

"This  work  is  so  thoroughly  that  of  a  man  possessed  of  his  subject,  anxious 
to  read  it  in  all  its  lights,  to  search  out  its  sources,  and  trace  its  bearings  tliat 
it  will  not  fail  to  captivate  the  general  reatler,  as  well  as  arrest  the  attention 
of  the  scholar,  who  will  lie  intciested  in  the  presence  some  of  the  hcixHja  of 
history  make  in  the  unqualified  light  turned  upon  them." — Albany  T'imts. 


WHAT  IS  BEEN'G  SAID.  H 

"  He  docs  not  stand  much  in  awe  of  traditional  reputations,  and  seems 
determined  to  state  frankly  the  facts  as  he  finds  them,  and  never  hesitates  to 
express  liis  own  conclusions.  *rhe  author's  brilliant  and  picturesque  narration 
will  attract  readers,  and  his  outspoken  positions  will  attract  the  critics.  He 
takes  a  decidedly  different  view  of  Columbus  from  those  given  by  Irving  and 
l*rescott,  and  he  does  not,  like  those  authors,  forget  that  the  goo<l  Isabella 
was  a  bigot  of  the  most  unrelenting  sort,  and  largely  responsible  for  the  In- 
quisition ;  nor  does  he  praise  her  at  the  expense  of  her  husband.  The  later 
misfortunes  of  Columbus  lie  attributes  not  so  much  to  jealousy  and  loss  of 
royal  favor,  through  the  intrigue  of  enemies,  as  to  his  own  incompetence  for ' 
afifairs,  his  vanity  and  impracticability." — Hartford  Courant. 

"  Hubert  H.  Bancroft  is  getting  to  be  noted  alike  as  a  careful,  industrious 
historian,  and  a  collector  of  very  valuable  books  and  manuscripts.  The  com- 
prehensive scope  and  detail  of  his  work  are  both  unusual.  His  new  book  is  a 
marvel  of  painstaking  research  and  accuracy." — Philadelphia  Times. 

"Mr  Bancroft  has  pursued  a  most  scholarly  method  in  the  arrangement 
of  his  work.  He  is  conscientious  and  sagacious  ia  his  balancing  of  authori- 
ties, and  his  frequent  classical  allusions  show  a  deep  study  of  ancient  and 
modern  autl  ors.  — iS.  F.  Post. 

"  The  work  is  so  thoroughly  that  of  a  man  possessed  of  his  subject,  anxious 
to  read  it  in  all  its  lights,  to  search  out  its  sources,  and  trace  its  bearings, 
that  it  will  not  fail  to  captivate  the  general  reader,  as  well  as  arrest  the  at- 
tention of  the  scholar,  who  will  be  interested  in  the  presence  some  of  the 
heroes  of  history  make  in  the  unqualified  light  now  turned  upon  them.  The 
volume  before  us  leads  to  the  return  of  Cort<5s;  and  those  who  follow  the 
picturesque  and  rapid  sweep  of  its  story  will  await  with  eagerness  the  next 
number,  which  relates  to  the  gorgeous  history  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico. " — 
S.  F.  Argonaut. 

"  A  shining  current  of  history  streams  through  the  pages.  For  hundreds 
of  pages  this  book  burns  with  the  infernal  record  of  religious  crime.  The 
historian  writes  through  it  with  his  pen  afire;  the  reader  shudders  through  it, 
his  heart  sick  and  his  eyes  ablaze.  While  this  book  lives,  the  memory  of  the 
hapless  Indian  and  his  unequaled  wrongs  can  never  die  out  of  the  conscious- 
ness of  mankind.  The  style  is,  upon  the  whole,  admirable.  It  is  vivid  and 
truthful  as  expressive  of  the  idea.  Much  of  it  touches  a  high  eloquence. 
Pictures  stand  out  sometimes,  each  from  a  single  felicitous  word.  The  his- 
torian frequently  suggests  the  picturesque  groupings  of  Carlyle  without  any 
of  his  outlandish  dressing  of  words.  You  see  the  thing  which  is  sought  to  l»e 
presented,  and  the  eye  is  not  too  much  caught  by  the  pigments.  Sometimes 
the  long  oar-sweep  of  words  is  exchanged  l)y  a  fine  sententiousness.  Thus, 
'  Discipline  begotten  by  necessity,  engenders  strength,  which,  fattened  by 
luxury,  swells  to  weakness  ;'  and  the  analysis  of  the  Castilian  from  which  we 
have  just  quoted,  is,  throughout,  as  cool  and  clear  a  chapter  of  scholarly  ex- 
position as  it  has  been  our  good  fortune  to  see  for  many  a  day." — S.  F. 
BxdUtin. 

"Seven  or  eigbt  years  ago  Mr  Hubert  H.  Bancroft,  of  San  Francisco,  sur- 

fjrised  the  reading  world  with  his  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  Slates,  wherein 
le  gave  astonishing  glimpses  into  an  antiquity  rivaling  that  of  Egypt,  and 
disclosed  the  little-thought-of  fact,  that  what  is  called  the  New  World  ia 
quite  as  likely  as  not,  the  old  one,  ethnologically  as  well  as  geologically.  That 
work  was  regarded  as  a  marvel  of  research,  and  justly  so,  in  conparison  with 
most  works  in  the  historic  field,  and  had  the  further  credit  of  investing 
a  naturally  dry  theme,  with  a  singularly  living  interest.  This  wai  at  once 
accepted  as  a  standard  work,  and  its  author  thought  to  have  fixe<l  himself 
among  the  first  historic  writers  of  the  day.  But  tue  work  of  collecting  ma- 
.tei|^  relating  to  the  Pacific  States  of  North  America  went  on  after   tho 


12  '  'WHAT  IS  BEING  SAID. 

completion  of  that  work,  until  the  author  has  now  collected  a  library  of  more 
than  thirty-five  thousand  volumes,  all  relating  to  that  region,  and  he  has  pro- 
jected and  begun  a  historical  work  of  colossal  proportions.  So  far  as  is 
known,  business  methods,  as  they  may  be  called,  have  never  been  applied  on 
so  complete  a  scale,  to  the  preparation  of  such  a  work.  The  result  is  marvel- 
lous—marvellous in  respect  to  the  amount  of  labor  which  one  man  is  thus 
enabled  to  accomplish  within  a  given  time.  The  value  of  the  history,  consid- 
ered as  a  whole,  depends  upon  the  master-mind  which  directs  the  whole— upon 
its  capacity  to  group  facts  and  generalize  from  them.  This  breadth,  vi^or, 
and  clearness  of  mental  grasp,  Mr  Bancroft  has  in  an  eminent  degree,  lor 
the  first  time,  the  story  of  the  beginnings  of  Spanish  occupation  of  Americi 
is  put  into  a  connected  and  lucidly  arranged  form  in  the  English  tongue.  A 
large  portion  of  the  cited  authorities  lias  never  hitherto  been  known  to  the 
world.  Mr  Bancroft  has  unearthed  old  State  and  ecclesiastical  manuscripts, 
of  whose  existence  all  traces  had  been  lost,  and  has  thrown  a  flood  of  light 
upon  subjects  which  have  seemed  forever  obscured.  This  is  notably  so  in  tH  o 
or  three  points.  For  example,  it  has  always  seemed  a  most  extraordinary 
thing  that  Columbus  should  meet  with  the  failures  which  attended  his  coloni- 
zation enterprises,  and  the  repeated  neglects  and  abuses  of  those  in  power,  if 
he  was  indeed  the  ready-to-be-canonized  saint  that  Irving,  for  instance,  paints 
him.  Mr  Bancroft  makes  the  matter  clear.  With  judicial  fairness  he  shows 
the  weak  as  well  as  the  strong  points  of  the  man's  character,  and  one  sees 
clearly  how  the  very  characteristics  that  lead  to  his  success  as  a  navigator  and 
discoverer,  totally  unfitted  him  to  be  either  soldier  or  politician  ;  and,  com- 
bined with  unquestionably  unjust  treatment,  made  the  latter  part  of  his  life 
full  of  almost,  or  quite,  insane  delusions.  Among  the  most  interesting  feat- 
tures  of  the  work  are  the  copious  bibliographical  foot-notes,  many  of  them 
containing  criticisms,  nearly  always  bold,  original,  acute,  of  Irving,  Prescott, 
and  other  authors ;  but  criticism  which,  however  fearless  and  incisive,  is 
always  frank  and  good-tempered.  It  would  be  a  pleasure  to  follow  the  begin- 
ning of  this  colossal  undertaking  further  in  detail,  but  it  is  impracticable 
here.  The  day  will  come  when  the  beginnings  of  the  history  of  the  vast  em- 
pire, yet  in  its  babyhood,  on  our  Pacific  slope,  will  be  studied  more  curiously 
than  that  of  any  other  part  of  the  world,  and  no  other  work  can  ever  hope  to 
rival  that  of  Mr  Bancroft  as  the  standard  authority.  It  presents  evidence  of 
wide  and  patient  research  ;  it  is  generalized  with  remarkable  breadth  of  view  ; 
it  is  clear  in  statement,  lucid  in  arrangement,  and  last,  but  by  no  means  least, 
it  is  pervaded  with  a  flavor  of  living,  breathing  interest  in  its  author,  which 
makes  it  interesting  to  the  reader.  In  fine,  the  completed  work,  finished  on 
the  scale  of  this  opening  volume,  will  be  worthy  to  take  rank  with  the  very 
best  of  modern  historical  works,  with  points  of  superiority  to  nearly  all  of 
them. " — Chicago  Times. 

"  So  vast  is  the  field  opened  up  by  such  a  plan  that  one  would  doubt  the 
ability  of  a  single  man  to  do  more  than  skirt  its  borders  ;  but  Mr  Bancroft  has 
proved  in  his  previous  work  that  he  has  reduced  the  writing  of  history  to  an 
exact  science.  Endowed  with  large  means,  with  unusual  executive  abilities 
which  enable  him  to  direct  and  make  use  of  the  labor  of  a  large  corps  of  intel- 
ligent assistants,  he  is  really  in  a  position  enjoyed  by  few  literary  workers. 
He  is  enabled  to  do  more  in  one  year  than  the  ordinary  historian  can  do  in  a 
decade.  Mr  Bancroft  has  an  eminently  practical  way  of  looking  at  history. 
There  is  no  efi'ort  made  to  bolster  up  a  man  or  a  creed,  as  we  find  in  Macaulay 
and  Froude;  there  is  absolutely  none  of  that  ingenious  work  which  has  been 
aptly  called  'historical  whitewashing.'  The  historian  seems  to  be  free  from 
all  prejudice,  free  from  partisan  bias  and  rancor.  Greater  scope  will  be  given 
in  subsequent  volumes  to  this  admirable  method  of  impartial  criticism;  but 
instances  of  it  are  not  lacking  here,  and  they  are  an  earnest  of  the  spirit  in 
which  this  work  will  be  written. 

"  Especially  worthy  of  careful  reading  are  the  notes  on  Columbus,  and  on 
the  credibility  of  the  early  chroniclera.      In  the  former  he  makes  a  keen 


WHAT  IS  BEING  SAID.  IS 

analysis  of  the  defects  of  Irving  and  Proscott,  showing  that  each  was  a  special 
Ijleiulcr,  sacriticing  the  truth  of  history  to  the  hero  he  was  placing  on  a 
pedestal.  The  author  pays  a  generous  tribute  to  their  work,  but  ho  shows 
that  it  is  not  history  in  tho  best  sense  of  the  word." — 8.  F.  Chronicle. 

' '  In  exposing  the  mistakes  of  his  predecessors,  Mr  Bancroft  combinea  im- 
partiality of  spirit  and  soundness  of  judgment  with  thoroughness  of  research, 
so  that  his  opinions,  generally,  will  probably  be  accepted  by  scholars  as 
final."— 6'.  F.  Alta 

"  The  conscientious  and  intelligent  care  in  the  treatment  of  his  subject 
gives  the  best  of  auguries  for  the  value  of  the  work.  The  conspicuous  ab- 
sence of  hero-worship,  in  the  treatment  of  his  characters,  is  another  i>eculiarity 
of  the  work.  Mr  Bancroft's  style  is  marked  by  a  charming  grace  and 
rhythm.  It  not  infrequently  presents  long  sustained  examples  of  sentential 
structure,  modeled  and  polished  by  the  severest  rules  of  the  schools,  and  it 
sometimes  pours  itself  along  with  a  natural  force  and  ruggedncss,  now  and 
then  rising  to  the  height  of  grandeur.  But  its  generic  quality  is  formed  in  a 
straightforward  directness  which  seems  to  ignore  art,  but  which  is,  in  reality, 
the  equivalent  of  the  best  art  in  speech." — Kamtaa  City  Journal. 

"The  volumes  thus  far  issued  commend  th(imselve8  to  the  historical  student 
and  the  literary  critic  for  their  deep  research,  their  conscientious  and  pains- 
taki.ng  handling  of  details,  and  for  their  grace  of  style."— Z«o«  ..iKjeUs  Daily 
Times. 

"This  is  a  most  stupendous  undertaking;  but  Mr  Bancroft  seems  to  bo 
adequately  equipped  for  it,  as  well  in  the  material  he  has  brought  together  as 
in  the  intelligence,  industry,  and  enthusiasm  with  which  he  jirosecutes  his 
work." —  Washington  Evening  Star. 

"  His  style  is  always  clear  and  concise,  often  graphic  and  picturesque,  with- 
out attempting  sensational  effects.  His  power  of  analysing  events,  as  well  as 
characters,  cannot  be  denied ;  and  his  ability  of  constructing  a  consecutive 
naiTative  out  of  a  chaos  of  incoherent  material,  betrays  unusual  literary  skill." 
— Xew  York  Times. 

"The  work  has  no  parallel  in  literature. "—//cnry  Ward  Beecher. 


ONE  OF  THE  LATEST  NOTICES  RECEIVED. 

London  Morning  Post. 
"The  national  distinctiveness  of  American  character  appears,  perhaps,  no- 
where so  clearly  as  in  the  style  of  American  writers.  In  this  country  the  style 
of  a  writer  is  individual,  in  Americd  it  is  national.  To  take,  for  example,  the 
case  of  English  historians,  there  is  not  a  single  common  feature  in  the  style  of 
such  men  as  Mr  Lecky,  Mr  Froude,  or  Mr  Freeman.  So  much  cannot  be  said 
— to  take  the  case  of  three  American  historians  whose  works  are  more  or  less 
familiar  to  English  readers— of  the  styles  of  Mr  Bancroft,  Mr  Motley,  or  Mr 
D'Orsey  Gardiner.  Though  differing  in  some  respects  in  modes  of  thought 
and  expression,  there  is  a  common  feature  of  re.«iemblance  in  the  writings  of 
all  three.  When  one  takes  up  the  book  of  an  English  author  and  criticises  its 
style,  he  never  thinks  of  saying  "  this  is  quite  an  English  style. "  He  says, 
"This  is  very  like  Mr  Lecky,  or  Mr  Froude,  or  Macaulay,"  as  the  case  may 
be.  But  almost  the  first  idea  that  strikes  one  in  turning  over  the  pa'^es  of  an 
American  book  is  "how  thoroughly  American  is  the  style."  And  what  is  the 
distinguishing  feature  of  American  style?  The  distinguishing  feature  of 
American  style,  like  the  distinguishing  feature  of  American  character,  gen- 
erally is  "go."  One  is  carried  along  from  the  very  first  page  by  an  impetu- 
osity which  is  at  once  charming  and  irresistible.  The  interest  is  immediately 
awakened,  the  attention  promptly  fixed.  There  is  something  in  the  dash  and 
flow  of  the  style  which  in  itself  attracts  and  excites.  We  can  perhaps  give  no 
better  illustration  of  wliat  we  mean  than  by  quoting  the  opening  passages  of 
Mr  Bancroft's  H'uitory  of  the  Pacific  States  of  North  America. 

«**♦««» 
"The  freshness  and  vigor  here  displayed  last  to  the  end  of  the  volume. 
But  if  we  were  to  single  out  the  individual  characteristic  which  pre-eminently 
distinguishes  Mr  Bancroft's  writings,  we  should  fix  on  the  wonderful  care  of 
which  all  his  works  bear  such  unmistakable  signs.  The  present  volume  is  a 
marvel  of  industry  and  hard  work.  The  materials  collected,  the  authorities 
consulted,  the  skill  with  which  all  have  been  collated  and  arranged,  and  the 
attractiveness  of  style  in  which  the  whole  has  been  presented  to  the  public, 
merit  the  highest  praise.  Mr  Bancroft  commences  his  History  of  the  Pacific 
States,  which  may  be  described  as  a  continuation  of  his  Native  Races  of  the 
Pacific  States,  with  a  brilliant  sketch  of  Spain  and  European  civilization  in  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  he  then  dashes  into  the  subject  proper 
of  his  book.  In  the  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States,  Mr  Bancroft,  as  the 
title  of  the  work  suggests,  dealt  with  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  country. 
In  the  work  now  before  us  he  treats  of  the  European  discoverers  and  settlers, 
and  continues  the  history  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  in  a  more  ailvanced 
stage  of  social  and  political  evolution.  The  narrative  abounds  in  incidents  of 
exciting  interest  and  facts  of  great  importance,  social,  historical,  and  political, 
rendering  this  latest  literary  achievment  of  Mr  Bancroft  a  work  attractive 
alike  to  the  general  reader,  the  historian,  the  statesman,  and  the  sociologist. 
Of  Mr  Bancroft's  Native  Races,  men  of  prominence  like  Mr  Herliert  Spencer 
and  Mr  Lecky  wrote  in  the  most  eulogistic  terms,  and  no  juster  criticism  can 
be  pronounced  on  the  distinguished  American  historian's  recent  production 
than  to  say  that  it  is  in  every  respect  worthy  of  its  predecessor  iu  tlie  in- 
structive and  important  series  of  contributions  to  American  history  on  which 
our  author  is  engaged." 


'Kot  only  iiiM>quaUcd,  but  uoApproached.      A  Utor&i!7  enterprise  more  dosor\-!ng  of  a  gonerooa 

■ymputhy  and  support  Una  never  boon  undortaken  on  tliU  Bide  of  the 

Atlantic" — [NoRTU  AMKUCkX  IIevlbw.j 


THE  WORKS  OF  HUBERT  HOWE  BANCROFT. 


In  39  Volumes,  Octavo,  with  Maps  and  llluatrationa. 


VoU.  1-V.— THE  NATIVE  RACES  OF  THE  PACIFIC  STATES. 

Vols.  VI-VIII.— HISTORY  OF  CENTRAL  AMERICA. 

Volfc  IX-XIV.— HISTORY  OF  MEXICO. 

Vols.  XV-XVI.— HISTORY  OF  THE  NORTH  MEXICAN  STATES. 

Vol.  XVII.— HISTORY  OF  NEW  MEXICO  AND  ARIZONA. 

Vols.  XVIII-XXIV.— HISTORY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

Vol.  XXV.— HISTORY  OF  NEVADA. 

Vol.  XXVI.— HISTORY  OF  UTAH. 

Vols.  XX VII-XX VIII.— HISTORY  OF  THE  NORTH-WEST  COAST. 

Vob.  XXIX-XXX.— HISTORY  OF  OREGON. 

Vol.  XXXI.— HISTORY  OF  WASHINGTON,  IDAHO,  AND  MONTANA. 

Vol.  XXXII.— HISTORY  OF  BRITISH   COLUMBIA. 

Vol.  XXXIII.— HISTORY  OF  ALASKA. 

Vol.  X.XXIV.— CALIFORNLV  PASTORAL. 

Vol.  XXXV.— CALIFORNIA  INTER  POCULA. 

VoU.  XXXVI-XXXVII.— POPULAR  TRIBUNALS. 

Vol.  XXXVIII.— ESSAYS  AND  MISCELLANY. 

Vol.  XXXIX.— LITERARY  INDUSTRIES. 

The  History  of  the  Pacifto  SxAXfes  ia  the  central  figure  of  thia  literary 
undertaking,  the  Native  Ha^es  being  preliminary,  and  the  works  following 
the  History  supplementary  thereto.  The  territory  covered  is  the  western  half 
of  North  America,  from  I'anamd  to  Alaska,  including  all  of  Central  America 
and  Mexico,  and  is  equivalent  in  area  to  one-twelfth  of  the  eaiiih's  surface. 


CONDITIONS. — The  volumes  will  bo  well  printed,  on  good  paper,  and 
neatly  and  substantially  bound ;  they  will  be  uniform  in  style,  and  will  average 
over  700  pages  each.  Three  or  four  new  volumes  per  annum  will  appear  until 
tlie  entire  scries  is  completed.  Subscribers  will  not  he  obliged  to  take  the 
work  unless  it  corresponds  with  the  description  in  every  particular. 

Per  Volumk. 
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Bound  In  Half  Calf,  Half  Russia,  or  Half  Morocco,    -         -      8  00 
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